Syria’s Assad halts parliament speech over low blood pressure: state TV

Aug 12, 2020

Low blood pressure forced Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to briefly stop his speech to parliament, state television said today. 

The 54-year-old leader was speaking to the assembly for the first time since last month’s parliamentary elections. He stopped for multiple sips of water, telling the audience, “My blood pressure has dropped and I need to drink water.”

“I need to sit for a minute if you don’t mind,” he told the room full of masked, distanced lawmakers, according to The Associated Press. 

Assad suddenly got down from the podium and left the room for “a few minutes,” according to the office of the Syrian presidency, which said he suffered a slight drop in his blood pressure. 

Upon returning to a cheering room, Assad joked that “doctors are the worst patients” and blamed the situation on going without food.