Russia said on Thursday observers had found the Syrian presidential election in which Bashar al-Assad retained power to have been fair, free and transparent, and criticised the reaction of nations that denounced the vote.
"Moscow sees the vote as an important event that safeguards the continued functioning of state institutions in Syria," Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said. He said the "politicised reaction" of some nations "cannot fail to cause disillusionment".
This comes as crowds of Syrians danced on the streets of Damascus on Thursday (June 5), to celebrate the election victory of President Bashar al-Assad.
Assad secured a landslide win in the wartime poll that was condemned as a sham by his opponents but demonstrated his tenacious hold on power after three years of brutal civil war.
His prime minister, Wael al-Halqi, hailed the election as an example to the rest of the world in a statement broadcast on state television.
"The Syrian people have passed their test in democracy with distinction. They have set an example for democracy in its best forms, one that can be an example for the rest of the world to follow given the election process's transparency and integrity," he said.
Parliamentary speaker Mohammad al-Laham said Assad secured 88.7 percent of votes cast in the election, which was held mainly in the central and western parts of the country, where Assad's forces hold sway.
Even before he spoke on Thursday, celebratory gunfire and fireworks erupted in Damascus in anticipation of the news. Three people were killed in the capital and 10 were wounded by the gunfire, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.
Nearly an hour after the announcement, heavy shooting could still be heard, despite an appeal by the victorious Assad that "joy and enthusiasm" could not justify the danger caused by the celebratory fire.
State television showed crowds cheering and dancing not only in Damascus, but also in Qamishli in the Kurdish northeast of the country, the Druze city of Suweida in the south and the contested city of Aleppo in the north.
Syria's constitutional court earlier said that turnout in Tuesday's (June 3) election and a previous round of voting for Syrian expatriates and refugees stood at 73 percent.
Assad's foes have ridiculed the election, saying the two relatively unknown and state-approved challengers offered no real alternative to Assad.
Former minister Hassan al-Nouri got 4.3 percent of the vote while parliamentarian Maher Hajjar secured 3.2 percent, fewer than the number of spoilt ballots.
They also said that no credible poll could be held in the midst of a conflict that has killed 160,000 people, driven millions from their homes and put swaths of northern and eastern Syria beyond Assad's control.
REUTERS