Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma vote during a referendum on a new constitution at a polling station in a Syrian TV station building in Damascus, Sunday, (Photo: Reuters).
Almost 90 per cent of voters approved Syria's new constitution brought in after 11 months of anti-regime protests, the interior minister announced on Monday.
Mohammed Al-Shaar also told a press conference that turnout reached 57.4 per cent of eligible voters, with 89.4 per cent of the 8.376 million who cast their ballots in Sunday's referendum saying "yes" to the new constitution.
"There has been a large turnout despite threats made by armed terrorist groups in some regions," the minister said, using a term employed by the authorities for rebels.
People went to polling stations "despite campaigns by treacherous media to stop citizens from exercising their rights and undermine the democratic process that took place freely and transparently," he added.
President Bashar Al-Assad has presented the new charter as a step toward reform.
The new constitution – in theory – allows other political parties to compete with Al-Assad's ruling Baath party, and imposes a two-term limit on the president. But Al-Assad's time served so far doesn't count, meaning he could remain in office until 2028.
The opposition had called for a boycott of the referendum, while the United States described it as "laughable".
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