West denounces Syrian vote on constitution as a ‘sham’
DAMASCUS, Syria — The U.S. and its allies dismissed the Syrian regime’s referendum on a new constitution Sunday as a “farce” meant to justify its bloody crackdown on dissent.
Meanwhile, voters in government strongholds suggested why some Syrians have not joined the uprising against President Bashar Assad: loyalty, distrust of the opposition and fear his fall will ignite a civil war.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called the vote “a cynical ploy” and urged Syrians who still support Assad to turn against him. A “farce” and a “sham vote” was how German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle described it.
“It’s a phony referendum, and it is going to be used by Assad to justify what he’s doing to other Syrian citizens,” Clinton said in an interview with CBS News in Rabat, Morocco.
“The longer you support the regime’s campaign of violence against your brothers and sisters, the more it will stain your honor,” she added, addressing Assad supporters. “If you refuse, however, to prop up the regime or take part in attacks . . . your countrymen and women will hail you as heroes.”
While casting his vote at the state broadcasting headquarters, Assad showed no signs of giving in on international demands to end his crackdown. And as he has done in the past, he tried to deflect blame in other directions. He said Syria was under a “media attack.”
“They may be stronger on the airwaves, but we are stronger on the ground, and we aspire to win both on the ground and on the airwaves,” he said in footage broadcast on state TV.
The U.S. and its European and Arab allies met Friday at a major international conference on the Syrian crisis in Tunisia, trying to forge a unified strategy to push Assad from power. They began planning a civilian peacekeeping mission to deploy after the regime falls.
The new constitution allows — at least in theory — for the formation of competing political parties and limits the president to two seven-year terms. Such change was unthinkable a year ago. Syria has been ruled by the Baath Party since it seized power in a coup in 1963, and the Assad family has ruled since Bashar’s father, Hafez, took over in another coup in 1970.
Even as the regime hailed the referendum as a giant step toward reform, its military kept up a crackdown that has been focused for the past three weeks on the opposition stronghold city of Homs. The city, parts of which are controlled by rebels, has come under intense shelling and hundreds have died, including two Western journalists.
Even so, the referendum demonstrated the support that Assad continues to enjoy among many Syrians.
“I’m here because I love my country,” said housewife Fayzeh Fadel, wearing large sunglasses, jeans and high heels. She said she didn’t want Syria to have a civil war like Libya or neighboring Iraq.
She and other voters spoke to foreign reporters who were accompanied by government minders.