Syria opposition leader says Assad election to worsen country's plight

FILE PHOTO: National Coordination Body (NCB) co-chairman Hassan Abdul-Azim visits a cemetery for Kurdish fighters from the People's Protection Units (YPG) in Qamishli, Syria December 30, 2015. REUTERS/Rodi Said

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".