Bashar al-Assad was sworn-in the president of Syria for the second term Wednesday before the members of the People’s Assembly.

President Assad was re-elected for a third seven-year term after winning a landslide victory in Syria’s first multi-candidate election June 3, the official SANA news agency reported.

He won against Hassan al-Nouri and Maher Hajjar by a massive margin, securing 88.7 percent of the valid ballots.

Bashar al-Assad has been sworn in for a third seven-year term as president of Syria, after an election last month that opponents dismissed as a “farce” reports BBC.

State television broadcast what it said was a live ceremony from the presidential palace in Damascus.

Mr Assad vowed to fight “terrorism” until security was restored to all of the country, but also promised to offer “national reconciliation” to opponents.

He has defied calls to step down since an uprising began in March 2011.

The conflict that erupted after the authorities launched a brutal crackdown on protests has left at least 170,000 people dead and driven more than nine million others from their homes.

Mr Assad won 88.7% of the votes cast in the first multi-candidate election in decades, which took place only in areas of Syria that were under government control.

After taking the oath of office on Wednesday, Mr Assad told his supporters: “Syrians, three years and four months… have passed since some cried ‘freedom’.”

“They wanted a revolution, but you have been the real revolutionaries. I congratulate you for your revolution and for your victory,” he added.