There is a lack of trust between Damascus and the opposition – Pederson

The UN special envoy to Syria Geir Pederson said in a press statement which was held yesterday, that there was a lack of trust between the Syrian government and the Syrian opposition, while urging the parties to move forward on large-scale prisoner exchanges to build confidence.

Pederson’s statement comes ahead of the first round of talks between the two sides after more than a year, next month.

The United Nations has announced on Monday the formation of a committee to draft a constitution for Syria.

Analysts expect the agreement to fail on the backdrop of the divergent views between the Syrian government and the opposition on the commission’s goals, especially as the opposition wants to draft a new constitution while Damascus insists on constitutional amendments only.

Pederson said: “This is a very divided society, there is obviously a lack of trust between the two sides, but there is also a lack of trust between Syria and the international community, so we hope the Constitutional Commission to be a first step in the right direction”.

The committee is expected to meet in the upcoming weeks, according to the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The heads of the guarantor countries in Syria (Turkey, Russia and Iran) have agreed during recent Ankara summit to form the committee after a year and a half of controversy over the details of the committee tasked with drafting a new constitution for the country according to the opposition, while reviewing the current constitution and amending some of its paragraphs according to Damascus. 

The committee is supposed to be consisted of 150 members, one-third of them from the opposition represented by the High Negotiations Committee, one third from the Syrian government, and one third from the civil society.

The Autonomous Administration in north and eastern Syria called on the United Nations to reconsider the formation of the Syrian Constitutional Commission after the Administration was completely excluded.

The Autonomous Administration said in a statement: “We consider excluding the will of our people from attempts of the political solution or any other efforts, in particular redrafting of the constitution, is unfair”.

Moreover, the Autonomous Administration stressed that important and essential components in the constitution and the Syrian solution, cannot be neglected because of the sensitivities of Turkey.