Syrian President Bashar Assad will remain in power for another seven-year term in the middle of a devastating 3-year-old secatarian war being that the controversial leader was re-elected in a landslide victory, officials annouced on Wednesday.

Syria's parliament speaker, Jihad Lahan, said that Assad received 88.7 percent of the vote, while his opponents, Hassan al-Nouri and Maher Hajjar, won only 4.3 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively, reports The Guardarian. The Supreme Constitutional Court tallied the turnout rate at 73.42 percent of the population.

The election results were announced by parliamentary speaker Mohammad al-Laham in a televised address. "I declare the victory of Dr Bashar Hafez al-Assad as president of the Syrian Arab Republic with an absolute majority of the votes cast in the election," said al-Laham.

After the results were released, the Syrian capital Damascus erupted with celebratory gunfire that reportedly included heavy weaponry. The men also cheered, whistled and broke into a pro-Assad chant: "With our souls, with our blood, we sacrifice for you, Bashar!" while on the streets, reports CBS News. As a result, at least three people were killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reports BBC News.

In response to Assad's victory, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry sharply attacked the Syrian election, calling it "a great big zero," reports CBS. He added that it can't be considered legitimate "because you can't have an election where millions of your people don't even have an ability to vote."

"Nothing has changed from the day before the election and the day after. Nothing," Kerry said during his visit to Beirut, the Lebanese capital. "The conflict is the same, the terror is the same, the killing is the same."

In addition, the European Union also denoucned the election, releasing a statement saying that "it cannot be considered as a genuinely democratic vote."