Syria's Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said the presidential elections will take place as scheduled, stressing the Syrian government will not delay the vote for any reason.

"This constitutional process will take place in time and in circumstances better than the current ones and we will not allow anyone to delay or postpone this process for any reason," the minister said in remarks carried by the state-run Tishreen newspaper on Tuesday.

The minister said the presidential polls would "enhance the steadfastness of the Syrians and their cohesion with the state and its institutions."

The minister's remarks came at time when the war-torn country is bracing for the elections due in July amid objection from the Western backers of the Syrian opposition, who called the elections a "parody of democracy."

The opposition groups also slammed the plans to hold the elections, contending that such process, within the current circumstances, would "blow up" the political process in Syria.

They questioned the integrity and transparency of such process in the midst of the ongoing war as a lot of places in Syria have turned into hotspots with intense battles ripping them apart, making the voting process there almost impossible.

The country also has millions of displaced people in neighboring countries.

Assad himself, whose second term will expire on July 17, hasn't yet announced whether he plans to run in the presidential elections, but he has reportedly expressed interest in running again for a third seven-year-term.

"This process doesn't run counter to the political process," al- Zoubi said, stressing that the elections will take place in all Syrian provinces according to the high standards of transparency and evenhandedness."

Meanwhile, the minister said the numbers of Syrian refugees in neighboring countries are exaggerated, adding that the Syrians abroad can cast their votes at the Syrian embassies in foreign countries.

Moreover, the minister urged the externally displaced Syrians to return to their country, promising to help them and provide them with their needs.

He said the doors for presidential nominations will open within the last ten days of the current month.

Last month, the Syrian parliament approved a general election bill that has given other candidates, along with Assad, an opportunity to run in the elections, but it also shuns aside most of the opposition figures, as the new law provides that the candidate for presidency must have lived in Syria for 10 consecutive years prior to nomination, a condition that cannot be met by the exiled opposition, whose members have been living outside Syria for long time.

Following the death of Assad's father, former President Hafez Assad, in 2000, the Syrian parliament unanimously nominated Assad as president.

Assad was re-elected without opposition in 2007 to a second term. He won overwhelmingly, scooping up 97.62 percent of votes in a nationwide referendum in which he was the sole contestant.

Observers believe that Assad is likely to be re-elected as no one has so far shown intention to run against him, despite the Western calls for him to leave office.

The Syrian government has repeatedly blasted countries that called on Assad to step down, saying such demands encroach upon Syria's sovereignty and the Syrian people's rights of self- determination.