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Assad says ready for early elections "when necessary": Russia MP

Xinhua, October 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told a visiting Russian lawmaker that he is ready to participate in any early pole "when necessary," the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV said on Sunday.

Visiting Russian communist party MP Aleksandr Yushenko said the Syrian president agreed to hold preliminary elections in the country, on condition that the move has the backing of the population.

Assad "is ready to discuss amendments to the constitution, hold parliamentary elections and, if the people of Syria deem necessary, expressed a readiness to hold presidential elections," Yushenko said.

It's a stance which apparently collaborate with the Russian efforts to push the wheels of the stalemated political process in Syria, in tandem with the ongoing military campaign against the terror groups.

A day earlier, Syria's parliament speaker Mohammad Jihad al-Laham hailed Russian military intervention in Syria as the "sole legitimate" way to fight the terrorist groups in Syria, according to the state news agency SANA.

Al-Laham said the coordination between Syrian and Russian military forces in ground and air operations have started yielding "big results" in defeating terrorist groups in Syria.

He added the two sides, plus Iran, will "also work on moving on toward the political solution in tandem with fighting terrorism through activating dialogue with the national opposition."

The head of the Russian delegation, Sergey Gavrilov, said they will discuss the mechanisms that could enable Russia to take part in the reconstruction process in Syria after the crisis ends and ways to increase the level of humanitarian and financial aid to Syria.

Russia started air raiding militant groups' posts in Syria on Sept. 30, a move hailed by Syrian officials as an efficient step in the war against terrorism. Endit