Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma on Sunday voted on the draft of the new constitution at polling station located in the TV and Radio Center in Damascus.
President al-Assad hailed, in a statement following the voting, the "great efforts" exerted by the Syrian media, highlighting the progress made by the Syrian television and the Syrian media in general.
"However, comparisons always come up in which the Syrian media, which is mainly the official media, is being compared to the non-official media in other countries," said the Syrian leader, dismissing this comparison as "inaccurate, unobjective and impossible."
Al-Assad said official media should be compared to official media in other countries since the goals and tasks of official media are different from those of private media.
"If we compare the Syrian official media now to its counterparts in the region, I believe it is the best," he stressed, adding that "nonetheless, we are not interested in comparing ourselves to those who are less, and we will keep comparing ourselves to those who are better."
Al-Assad emphasized that the attack Syria is facing is a media attack. "However," the embattled leader continued, "media, notwithstanding its importance, doesn't outdo the reality. They may be stronger in space, but we are stronger on the ground. Still, we want to win on the ground and in the space."
Meanwhile, the Syrian opposition is reaching out to the Alawites, the community of President Bashar al-Assad. In a statement issued Sunday, the Syrian National Council (SNC) warned against the regime's attempts to provoke a sectarian war. "We are reaching out (the Alawites) to build the rule of law and citizenship," said the SNC, the main coalition of Syrian opposition groups, stressing, "The regime will fail to push us to kill each other."
