A Syrian lawmaker has registered for the upcoming presidential elections in Syria. He is the first person ever to run against President Bashar al Assad.
Aleppo born Maher Abdel Hafiz Hajjar is an independent MP, AFP reports.
“We have received information from the higher constitutional court that Member of Parliament Maher Abdel Hafiz Hajjar has filed his candidacy for the post of president of the Syrian Arab Republic,” Mohammad Lahham said in a statement Wednesday, according to AFP.
Hajjar is set to run in what will be Syria’s first presidential election. Current President Bashar al Assad came to power after his father’s death in 2000.
The Syrian opposition has called the elections a “farce,” while the U.N. and Arab League have said it poses a major obstacle to peace in the war-torn country.
Syria has been plagued by a brutal civil war for the last three years.
