Damascus, March 31 (RHC)-- Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has said that he is willing to hold a presidential election if his people call for it.

In statements to Russian media released on Thursday, Assad said: “If that's what the people want, their will, then it is not a problem for me.”

The Syrian leader told Sputnik news agency that he was ready and willing to “respond to the will of his people and not to the will of certain opposition forces.”

He added that direct elections in which all Syrians could participate would be better than the president being elected by parliament, so that the elections can be "as free as possible from the influence of various political forces."