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Herald Reporter
ZIMBABWE has expressed solidarity with the people of Syria who successfully held their elections despite a protracted war that has been blamed squarely on the United States and its Western allies.
Speaking after attending the conference on Syria held in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on June 1, chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs Cde Enock Porusingazi said Zimbabwe stood in solidarity with Syria and its people.
The Parliament of Zimbabwe sent a two-man delegation comprising Cde Porusingazi and Cde Kindness Paradza. The conference, convened on the theme “Friends of Syria”, was attended by 34 countries from the Non-Aligned Movement.
“We resolved that Syria was a sovereign state that is being persecuted by the USA and its allies who have imposed sanctions. The meeting also resolved that the West was interfering in Syria’s internal affairs and had imposed sanctions on the country despite having held successful elections that had been contested by three candidates.
“The same kind of persecution being perpetrated by the United States and its allies on Syria and Iran is just the same as what is happening to Zimbabwe hence our position to stand in solidarity with our colleagues in the two countries,” Cde Porusingazi said.
Syrian president Bashar al-Assad won the elections although the United States and its allies are disputing the election results.
“This is tantamount to interfering in the internal politics of Syria and all countries at the meeting agreed that Syria was being persecuted for trying to protect its sovereignty,” he said.
In his address to the conference, Cde Porusingazi applauded the Syrian government for restoring relative security to the country.
“It is a fact that Western countries supported by their surrogates in this region are not seeking to establish justice and democracy in the Arab world, but rather they would want to install pro-Western regimes hence they are strongly opposed to the Syrian Presidential Election purporting that it lacks credibility,” he added.
Cde Porusingazi said there was need to respect internal laws, culture and tradition of Syria since it was a sovereign nation.
He also said, “Its citizens have the right to self-determination for their beloved country and should be allowed to chart their own future by solving the Syrian crisis through democratic means.
“Our brothers and sisters in Syria must be allowed a chance to freely choose and elect leaders of their own choice without interference from the Western world.”
Cde Porusingazi said the US and its allies should not be allowed to impose its own cultures and values on the Syrian people who have their own traditions and religion.
The parliamentarians attended the Friends of Syria Summit before travelling to observe the elections in Syria on June 3.
Online Reporter