Assad Ready to Take Part in Presidential Race in Case of Syrians' Support

The Syrian leader is ready to run for presidency if the nation supports him.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Syrian President Bashar Assad said during a meeting with Russian lawmakers in Damascus on Sunday that he was ready to participate in the presidential elections should the Syrians support it, a member of the Russian delegation said.

"Assad said that he would not mind taking part in the presidential elections if the Syrian people considered [it] necessary," Russian Communist Party member Alexander Yushchenko told RIA Novosti.

"The meeting with Bashar Assad just ended," Yushchenko said.

"We have discussed…the effectiveness of the operation by the Russian Aerospace Forces," Communist Party member Sergei Gavrilov added.

On September 30, Russia began launching pinpoint airstrikes at Islamic State positions in Syria at Assad's request.

"He [Assad] proposed a possibility of holding parliamentary elections with all political powers that want peace and stability in Syria," Gavrilov told RIA Novosti.

"We have agreed to meet with him [Assad] in Moscow, with the head of the Syrian parliament, with the Grand Mufti of Syria," the lawmaker added.