--- description: A picture uploaded to the Syrian first lady's Facebook page shows the dictator crowding into the frame with a group of young people as voting begins in the country's presidential election, which Western observers assume will be rigged in Assad's favor title: Syria's Assad Joins The Presidential Selfie Club image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt179b7544bbd55421/698696073bc9991a3c1a3e7b/assad-selfie-syria1.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Syria](/tag/syria/) ## Syria Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Syria's Assad Joins the Presidential Selfie Club  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 3, 2014 7:29 PM CUT  This handout picture released by the official Facebook page of Syria's First Lady Asma al-Assad shows Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (R) posing for a selfie with a group of youths after casting his vote at a polling station in Maliki, a residential area in the centre of the capital Damascus, in the country's presidential elections on June 3, 2014. This handout picture released by the official Facebook page of Syria's First Lady Asma al-Assad shows Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (R) posing for a selfie with a group of youths after casting his vote at a polling station in Maliki, a residential area in the centre of the capital Damascus, in the country's presidential elections on June 3, 2014.AFP/Getty Images  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 3, 2014 7:29 PM CUT ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2819276/bashar-assad-selfie-syria-election/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2819276/bashar-assad-selfie-syria-election/"},"headline":"Syria's Assad Joins the Presidential Selfie Club","datePublished":"2014-06-03T19:29:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:11:41.663Z","description":"A picture uploaded to the Syrian first lady's Facebook page shows Bashar Assad crowding into the frame with a group of young people as voting begins in the country's presidential election, which Western observers assume will be rigged in Assad's favor","url":"https://time.com/2819276/bashar-assad-selfie-syria-election/","keywords":["Syria","Election","vote","presidential election","assad"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt179b7544bbd55421/698696073bc9991a3c1a3e7b/assad-selfie-syria1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt179b7544bbd55421/698696073bc9991a3c1a3e7b/assad-selfie-syria1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Assad Selfie","caption":"Assad Selfie","creditText":"AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/syria/","name":"Syria"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2819276/bashar-assad-selfie-syria-election/","name":"Syria's Assad Joins the Presidential Selfie Club"}}]}] ```