Political scientists have characterised the Assad family's rule of Syria as a personalist dictatorship. On 17 July 2000, Assad became president, succeeding his father, who died in office a month prior. In the uncontested 2000 and 2007 elections, he received 97.29% and 97.6% support, respectively. On 16 July 2014, Assad was sworn in for another seven-year term after another election gave him 88.7% of the vote. The election was held only in areas controlled by the Syrian government during the country's ongoing civil war and was criticised by the UN. Assad was re-elected in 2021 with over 95% of the vote in another national election. These elections have been criticized by international observers, as well as the Syrian opposition, as being fraudulent and non-democratic. Throughout his leadership, human rights groups have characterized Syria's human rights situation as poor. The Assad government describes itself as secular, while some political scientists write that his regime exploits sectarian tensions in the country and relies upon the Alawite minority to remain in power.