Communist MP becomes Assad’s first presidential challenger
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/syrian-mp-becomes-assads-first-presidential-challenger
A communist lawmaker has registered as the first challenger for the Syrian presidency in an upcoming election expected to return incumbent Bashar al-Assad to power, the speaker of parliament said Wednesday. “We have received information from the higher constitutional court that member of parliament Maher Abdel Hafiz Hajjar has filed his candidacy for the post of president of the Syrian Arab Republic,” state television quoted Mohammed Lahham as saying. Hajjar was born in Aleppo in 1968 and has been a member of the Syrian Communist Party since 1984, the broadcaster said. read more