A total of 51 hopefuls have put their name into the hat to challenge Bashar Assad for Syria's presidency in the upcoming vote.
In Syria's 2014 elections, 24 applications were registered, of which three candidates took part in the elections, including the President Assad himself
Given that the Syrian People's Council consists of 250 parliamentarians, no more than seven people can participate in the presidential race. At the same time, the candidate from the Arab Socialist Baʽath Party, whose secretary general is Assad, has the best chance, since it has 167 seats in parliament.
Assad took over the leadership of the Arab Republic in 2000 after the death of his father, former Syrian President Hafez Assad. 2014 marked the first time candidates could challenge Assad for the presidency, although he still won a landslide with 88.7 percent of the votes.