Syria’s High Constitutional Court announced that only three candidacy applications for the presidential elections had garnered the support of at least 35 MPs.

The three validated candidates are:
– Maher Abdel Hafez Hajjar MP (Communist leanings)
– Hassan Abdallah al-Nouri (former Minister of State for Administrative Development Affairs, and a member of the internal opposition)
– Bashar al-Assad (outgoing President of the Republic, President of the secular Baath Party).

The election will be held on June 3.

The new Electoral Code provides each candidate with funding, personal police protection, and access to media.