Damascus , Syria ( CNN ) -- In the midst of a bloody and protracted civil war , the Syrian government is set to hold a presidential election Tuesday . The outcome is hardly in doubt : President Bashar al-Assad is almost guaranteed to emerge victorious in a vote that opposition groups and many Western countries say will be rigged from the start . Syria is n't renowned for holding free and fair elections . When he came to power 14 years ago , al-Assad ran unopposed , securing more than 99 % of votes , according to state media . Seven years later , he won again with a similarly mountainous share of the vote . His father , Hafez al-Assad , ruled Syria with an iron fist for 29 years before he died in 2000 . Some analysts say the purpose of this week 's vote , which U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged the Syrian government not to hold , is to send a message to al-Assad 's opponents , both in Syria and abroad . Syria 's presidential election : How fair can a vote be in a war zone ? ' A coronation ' `` It 's a coronation of Assad , it 's a celebration of his ability to survive the violent storm and basically go on the offensive , '' said Fawaz Gerges , a professor of international relations at the London School of Economics . The election is being held against the backdrop of a grinding three-year conflict that has killed around 150,000 people , displaced about 6.5 million people within Syria and prompted almost 3 million people to flee outside its borders . Voting will only take place in areas controlled by the regime . Rebels hold significant areas of the north and east of the country . The British Foreign Office has said the vote `` will be a grotesque parody of democracy . '' The U.S. State Department says the Assad regime has taken steps `` to make it difficult if not impossible to have a fair and free election in Syria . '' Little known challengers . One aspect of this year 's election distinguishes it from the previous foregone conclusions , though : al-Assad actually has people running against him -- although it 's questionable how much of a challenge they present . The two other candidates are relative unknowns : Hassan al-Nouri , a businessman and former government minister ; and Maher Hajjar , a lawmaker . Critics say they are just pawns or window dressing to give the election a veneer of democracy . But the Syrian government has dismissed any criticism of the process . Hajjar has kept a low profile , but al-Nouri says he 's serious about challenging al-Assad and is `` trying to attack his weaknesses . '' He claimed he would be `` more aggressive and more effective '' than al-Assad on economic , administrative and social issues . But on the overarching question of the war , al-Nouri offers no dissent . `` Politically , I think he 's doing what he has to do , '' he said . Rebels divided . What al-Assad is doing is continuing the brutal offensive against those opposed to his regime , raining down barrel bombs on rebel-controlled parts of cities such as Aleppo and Daraa . The opposition groups fighting against him are divided , with squabbling between factions and jihadis who have flocked from around the world to try to establish an Islamic state . The rebels have lost ground around Damascus and Homs , and are under pressure in Aleppo and the south of the country . Talks earlier this year mediated by the United Nations did little to change the situation , ending with the regime and the opposition firmly opposed . Ban 's office has warned that the elections are likely to worsen the situation , saying they `` will damage the political process and hamper the prospects for political solution that the country so urgently needs . '' CNN 's Jethro Mullen reported and wrote from Hong Kong . CNN 's Ben Wedeman contributed to this report .
President Bashar al - Islam is expected to win Tuesday 's presidential vote . ` ` It 's a coronation of him , it 's a celebration of his struggle to rule , '' an analyst says . It takes place amid a three - year civil war that has killed around 2000 people . The Syrian opposition and Western countries say the election wo n't be free or fair .