Syria’s Interior Minister has
announced that 89 per cent of those who took part in the referendum
have voted in favor of a new constitution. The new law puts an end to
five decades of one-party rule among other reforms put forward by
President Bashar al-Assad.

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma vote during a referendum on a new constitution at a polling station in a Syrian TV station building in Damascus February 26, 2012. (Reuters / Sana Sana)

Interior Minister Ibrahim al-Shaar
announced the results of the referendum at a press conference on
Monday. ­

According to the minister, out of
14,580,000 Syrians eligible to vote some 8,376,000, or about 57
percent, actually came to the polling stations and voted.

Al-Shaar said that the opposition
groups tried to hamper the vote in some troubled areas like Homs and
Idlib. Armed rebels did not allow some people to get to the polling
stations he said. The minister has not provided the figures on
turnout in these cities.

“In Homs we are going to fight till
the very end, till there are no armed groups,” he said, as
cited by RT correspondent in Damascus.

Those who live in such troubled regions
had a chance to vote at polling stations which had been set up out of
areas where clashes with the armed opposition still continue. Syrians
who live in neighboring countries voted at stations set up near the
borders.

“We are satisfied with the
results,” al-Shaar said. “The Syrian people have made
their choice.”

Russia’s Foreign Ministry considers
the results of the referendum in Syria to be evidence of the wide
public support for the government’s course of reforms.

“The referendum has confirmed that
the course for changes is supported by the people,” the
ministry’s statement said.“The influence of those opposition
groups that called for boycotting the referendum is restricted and
gives them no exclusive right to speak on behalf of the Syrian
people.”

The adopted constitution includes 14
new and 47 amended articles. The reforms put forward by President
Assad are designed to stop the bloody uprising and pave the way for
free elections in the country.

An unprecedented referendum on a new
draft constitution took place in Syria on Sunday. Syrians took an
active part in the crucial vote and the officials said turnout was
very high.

Despite the fact that the opposition
boycotted the referendum, calling it an empty gesture, and called for
mass protests, there were no public order violations in Damascus
during the vote.

Western politicians considered the
referendum to be a farce, with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton calling it “a cynical ploy” and German
Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle describing it as a “sham
vote.”

Meanwhile, on Monday the European Union
has slapped the Syrian government with its toughest set of
sanctions yet. They include an asset freeze on officials, and a ban
on importing precious metals and minerals from the country. 

More than a year since the uprising in
Syria began, violence is still raging on in some parts of the
country, including the flashpoint city of Homs, where dozens were
reported killed during the weekend.

-RT, TAAN