Al-Assad placates southern Syria before elections President of the Syrian regime Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma al-Akhras (edited by Enab Baladi) Enab Baladi-Louay Rhebani Less than two months before Syria’s presidential elections, scheduled to be held in April, the Syrian regime has accelerated a number of measures to calm tensions prevailing in the southern part of Syria, including As-Suwayda and Daraa. This raises several questions about the method the Syrian regime adopts when governing the two regions of southern Syria, as well as whether the Syrian regime is at all concerned with improving voters’ deteriorating living conditions, where 90 percent of voters live below the poverty line.