Civil war, ruin, raging poverty... but Assad is guaranteed to win Syria’s fake election

The sham election this week is designed to give the president a veneer of legitimacy at home and abroad

The last time Syria held presidential elections, in 2014, there was no question over whether President Bashar al-Assad would win - but with opposition forces in control of the country's cities, as well as the suburbs of Damascus, his future was still far from certain.

Seven years later, after the regime's Russian and Iranian allies intervened and turned the tide of the war, most of Syria is now back under Assad's grip. On Wednesday, his citizens will return to the polling booths for a sham democratic display designed to give the president a veneer of legitimacy both at home and abroad.