DAMASCUS // Syria said on Monday it will hold presidential elections expected to return President Bashar Al Assad to office on June 3, despite a civil war that has killed more than 150,000 people.
Underlining the ongoing violence in the country, mortar fire hit near the parliament building shortly before the election date was announced, killing two people.
Syria’s first presidential election -- after constitutional amendments did away with the old referendum system -- will be held amid violence that has killed 150,000 people since March 2011, according to one monitoring group.
Parliament speaker Mohammad Al Lahham announced the election date at a special session, saying Syrians living outside the country would vote May 28 and candidates would be able to register to run from Tuesday until May 1.
Mr Al Lahham said voting would be “free and fair... and under full judicial supervision”.
He urged Syrians “to give voice to their will through the ballot box and participate in the democratic process by electing whoever they think is most able to lead Syria to victory.”
“We are confident that you will grant your support... to whoever is worthy of leading and defending Syria, protecting its sovereignty and principles and ensuring a safer future where all Syrians enjoy their rights without distinction,” he added.
Mr Al Assad, who became president after his father Hafez died in 2000 and whose current term ends on July 17, is widely expected to run and win another seven-year term in office despite the conflict.
New election rules require candidates to have lived in Syria for the last decade, effectively preventing key opposition figures in exile from standing for office.
The opposition has criticised plans to hold presidential elections and insists that Mr Al Assad should step down and have no role in Syria’s future.
Much of the international community has also warned Syria against holding the vote, with UN-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi saying it could close the door to future peace negotiations.
It remains unclear how Syria’s government will organise an election under the current circumstances, with swathes of the country out of its control and nearly half the population displaced.
Syria’s conflict began with peaceful protests demanding democratic reform but soon escalated into a civil war after the government launched a massive crackdown on dissent.
Violence continues in many parts of the country, even reaching into the heart of the capital, which has regularly come mortar fire from opposition fighters on the outskirts.
A security source said mortar fire in Damascus was expected to increase during the electoral period.
“They will increase the fire this month to try to undermine the election,” he said, referring to opposition fighters.
Syrian government forces were meanwhile on the offensive in the central city in Homs, where the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said clashes were continuing in the Bab Hud and Juret Al Shiyah districts.
Both rebel-held neighbourhoods have been under government siege for nearly two years.
In the northern city of Aleppo meanwhile, activists said regime aircraft dropped explosive-packed barrel bombs on several districts, a day after 52 civilians were killed in air raids across the province of the same name.
The Observatory, a Britain-based group relying on sources inside Syria, said 14 children were among those killed in regime aerial bombardment of the province on Sunday.
Mohammed Wissam, an activist in Aleppo city, said the barrel bomb strikes on Sunday targeted crowded areas of Syria’s former economic hub.
“They only dropped 10 barrel bombs on Aleppo city yesterday, but they targeted the markets,” he said.
“Some people also burned to death, because one of the strikes hit a fuel depot.”
Syria’s air force has staged near-daily air raids against opposition areas of Aleppo since late last year, forcing thousands of families to flee the city.
* Agence France-Presse
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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GOLF’S RAHMBO
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Company name: Play:Date
Launched: March 2017 on UAE Mother’s Day
Founder: Shamim Kassibawi
Based: Dubai with operations in the UAE and US
Sector: Tech
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Stage of funding: Seed
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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