Series 1 : Episode 4 : Bashar Al-Assad should abdicate

Lets start off by enjoying this song . () . My opponent started off claiming that the elections in Syria where not democratic and compared them to elections in DPRK . There are big differences between the two and Bashar al-Assad did not win by 100% . 'If you suspect that any division in power or nod to democracy in North Korea is a sham, you're right. "Voting" in North Korea is a mandatory exercise, which serves as both a census and way for officials to keep tabs on the public. The Economis texplains: [Voters] are presented with a single candidate in the district where they live. These candidates are chosen by the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland, the governing coalition, which is controlled by the Workers' Party. There is only one box to tick. Abstaining or voting no would be a dangerous act of treason, given that voting takes place in booths that do not provide any secrecy, and dissenting votes must be posted into a separate ballot box. In this way the population (everyone over 17 is obliged to vote) endorses the 687 deputies in the SPA, a body that, in any case, is merely a rubber-stamp parliament that is rarely convened. In practice the supreme leader, Kim Jong Un, calls the shots, supported by the Presidium, a smaller group of senior officials.' - (http://www.thewire.com...) . What does democracy mean ? 'a form of government in which people choose leaders by voting' -(http://www.merriam-webster.com...) . In it's truest meaning democracy means 'majority rule' . Bashar al-Assad won by majority vote . ' Kurds and other minority groups are limited in speech, protest, and campaigning. This is a strategic way to suppress the minority vote. ' The regions in the nothern part of Syria are managed by kurds themselves . - (http://www.csmonitor.com...) . ' All three candidates were either government supporters, or political moderates.' There were more than 20 canditates , the fact that only 3 met the criteria required to run is not something incredible , there were only 2 main canditates in the American elections . '- Media rights and other expression and campaigning conduits were severely limited.' My opponent hasn't provided me with a source , Media was always heavily regulated in Syria . 'Ballots were not availiable (As in banned by the government) from the refugees outside of the country. Who were expected to vote against Assad. ' That's a very interesting claim ... with no evidence to support it , the big majority of Syrians in Lebanon have voted for Bashar al-Assad - (http://www.theguardian.com...) . ' Belgium, Cananda, Egypt, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, UAE and the United States did not allow the elections to be held in the Syrian embassy.' . - (http://en.wikipedia.org...) Many European countries have not allowed Syrians to vote . It get's even more ridicilous my opponent says '- There was no voting boxes in rebel held territory, which is the "safe zone" for anti-government supporters.' This is not only a terrible argument but so incredibly ironic . ' BEIRUT, Lebanon — Rebels in southern Syria killed more than 20 people in a mortar attack on a tent put up as part of presidential elections next month, antigovernment activists said on Friday. The overnight attack appeared to be the first by opponents of President Bashar al-Assad directly targeting the election and raised the specter of further rebel assaults on rallies and other events.' Rebels have killed innocent people because they didn't want them to vote in favour of Assad . - (http://www.dailystar.com.lb...) . how the hell is it possible to have an election on enemy territory ? especially when the rebels have already killed 50 voters on government territory . Like I have stated before . Below his arguments he has a picture of people holding a banner saying 'ASSAD UPSIDE-DOWN DEMOCRACY: YES HE CAN KILL VOTERS TO BECOME PRESIDENT!' How idiotic is that when it is the rebels who have killed voters . 'Will the abdication of Assad de-escalate the conflict? ' I have proved the BOP is on pro , I am simply refuting all my opponent says and I have already made my points in previous rounds . My opponent has not proven how Bashar al-Assad abdicating would solve the crisis . 'Once again, we see more supposedly unintentional straw man. It does not matter if he's shipping off weapons. The contention is that he's a war criminal, who would most likely face the death penalty were he to go up against the International Court of Justice in Geneva. Do I need to explain why having a war criminal in power is a bad thing? ' Just what I expected a completly baseless argument , My opponent has not proven that Bashar al-Assad has used chemical weapons therefore I cannot argue against something that doesn't have any evidence for it . The picture below is too small for me to read or even make sense out of it so i'm not gone address it . 'My opponent attempts to get sympathy points for arguing that minority groups would be opposed to a so called "radical shiite government". ' Wait what? you mean the Sunni government that would emerge? yes . 'He has given us no way of proving that the minority groups (the largest being the kurds, who support Free Syria), will leave the country if the Democratic moderate forces took power.' My opponent hasn't proved that kurds support the FSA (which is not the main rebel group anymore and he hasn't proved that the 'democratic forces' would take power which seems pretty stupid as the terror groups like ISIS and Al Nusra are much more effective . What my opponent says is that the 'democratic forces' would simply take control of the country like this which is impossible they would have to rule together with the radical islamists that make up half of the whole Syrian opposition , they are not just gone stand there and let some of the less radical rebel groups form their own government . When the government would be formed it would be made up of various leaders of the Syrian opposition many of which would come from the radical groups this would cause Christians and Alawities to leave Syria in big numers . Many Christians have already been forced out of their homes. -(http://www.al-monitor.com...) - (http://rt.com...) . Syrian radicals control most of the rebel held territory . Long Live President Bashar Al-Assad , the lion of Syria .