On July 17 Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad is celebrating two decades in power.
In 2000, the year he became people’s Deputy, having achieved resounding success in the elections and received its first seven-year mandate at the highest state positions.
In may 2007 Bashar al-Assad was re-elected on a post of the head of state, and it receives more than 97% of the electorate. He managed to cope with the situation in March 2011, when the opposition, supported from abroad, organized riots that resulted in the civil war.
Syrian and foreign analysts pay tribute to his sagacity and strong will, as, despite the extremely difficult situation, the President has taken unprecedented for the state’s step, abandoning one-party system with the ruling Baath party and enable other political movements and entities to officially participate in the life of Syria.
From 2011 till 2015 Syria torn apart by foreign invaders and terrorist groups, and many industrialized countries ceased to recognize the legitimately elected President the head of the country. Nevertheless, Assad has consistently tackled the problem of preserving the statehood and sovereignty of the Republic, and also managed to enlist the support of the Russian Federation, which eventually became one of the key factors in the revival of the country.
It is curious that from the beginning Bashar al-Assad, son of Hafez al-Assad, was far from the power circles: he wanted to lead a life of a private person. Being the youngest son and by profession, an ophthalmologist educated in prestigious foreign medical school, he began to build a political career only after his death in a car accident of his older brother.
