Syria: 4 more presidential candidates announced

Four more presidential candidates submitted Tuesday applications to the Supreme Constitutional Court announcing that they will be running for president, raising the total number of candidates to 11 so far. Speaker of the People’s Assembly Mohammad Jihad al-Laham said during a session Tuesday that the Assembly received notifications from the Constitutional Court on candidacy announcement by Ali Mohammad Wannous, Tali’ Saleh Naser and Samih Mikhail Moussa, in addition to Ezza Mohammad Wajih al-Hallaq, the second female candidate, Syrian Arab News Agency reported. The new candidates are to wait for getting written approvals from at least 35 MPs each in order for their applications not to be dismissed. The Constitutional Court has already received candidacy applications from Maher Abdul-Hafiz Hajjar, Hassan al-Nouri, Sawsan Haddad, Samir Moalla, Mohammad Firas Rajjouh, Abdulsalam Salameh and Bashar Hafez al-Assad. The deadline for receiving applications ends on May 1.