AMMAN (Reuters) - A "sham" election designed to prolong President Bashar al-Assad's grip on Syria shows that only international pressure for a U.N.-backed peace plan can pave the way for democratic rule, a Damascus-based secular opposition leader said.
Lawyer Hassan Abdul Azim of the National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change added that Wednesday's vote would only worsen the plight of a country afflicted by hunger, poverty and an "authoritarian regime".
