MOSCOW. Jan 20 (Interfax) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad does not intend to leave the post of president of his own free will, the matter can be decided only by the Syrian people in the course of elections.
"If we had wanted to surrender, we would have surrendered from the very start. We stand at the guard of our motherland. This issue lies beyond the sphere of discussion. Only the Syrian people can decide who should take part in the elections," he said at a Sunday meeting with Russian MPs in Damascus.
That was his answer to members of the delegations who asked him about this attitude to the opinion of Western countries and some opposition leaders claiming that he must leave the political arena and whether he is ready to take part in the presidential election this year.
Expanding on his reply al-Assad invited the opposition to compete with him and take part in the upcoming presidential election.
"They claim that they have liberated 70% of the territory of Syria. So why shouldn't they take part in the elections and hope for the support of [the population in] the 70%" he said.
He added that not a single opposition leader has shown willingness to take part in direct political struggle.
He reminded the deputies that during a conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry stressed that over 50% of Syrians support al-Assad.
"If a little is added to the percentage named by the American secretary of state and this will mean full support for the incumbent president by the people," he said.
The course of the talks were related to Interfax on Sunday by Alexander Yushchenko, a Communist State Duma deputy and member of the delegation of both houses of the Federal Assembly.
"We consider what we heard as al-Assad's confident position in the upcoming election. Moreover, our two-day visit to Syria during which we succeeded in meeting people gives us reasons to believe that the incumbent president will be supported by the Syrian nation," the deputy said.