Qamishli – North-Press Agency
Alan Hassan
There are many articulated stations that the Syrian crisis has gone through since the start of its first spark in the spring of 2011, but the Constitutional Committee, which has come to light after a long period of prevention after Sochi Agreement among the leaders of the Russian Federation, the Iranian Republic and Turkey in Ankara in September last year, has a great importance as it is the first time that parties of the war have committed themselves to a true participated act of Syria's future.
The "committee" was one of the effects of the "Syrian National Dialogue" conference in Sochi in late 2018, in which representatives of the Syrian government, its supporters – independently and a number of opposition currents took part, as it was sponsored by Russia.
"The international mini group", which includes the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia were absent from the conference, as they consider themselves that they aren't concerned with this committee and they prefer the election basket than other baskets, as they want to subject the committee to the path of the existing political process under international sponsorship, and not to allow the political solution to be limited to the completion of the constitution, as the guarantors of Astana path want. But after holding the final agreement, they welcomed its formation without providing any direct support for it.
Parties of the Syrian crisis have wagered on time to achieve in politics what they failed militarily, for the Syrian government, which reluctantly agreed to the Geneva Statement in 2012 and the Resolution 2254 / 2016, returned to disclaimer them by separating the Constitutional Committee from them, and ensuring that the committee doesn't have any executive powers, and that the constitution accomplish by members of the committee won't be effective unless it passes through the traditional constitutional frameworks in Syria. Therefore, it focuses on the fact that the Syrian government delegation is supported by the Syrian Arab Republic, and they later called the National Delegation, as to be distinct from the delegation of the Syrian Arab Republic, where it takes part as part of a committee which has full powers. While the pro-Turkish opposition, both militarily and politically, or those opposed the regime, have agreed to attend Geneva sessions, but actually they refuse them, and many groups have announced their rejection of any outputs from these meetings.
In addition to the fact that the Autonomous Administration of northeastern Syria is a strong focal point in the Syrian crisis, as the region which is rich in natural resources and is complex ethnically and sectarianly is an insomnia to many parties of the crisis, for example, the Kurdish issue is one of the most complex issues which need practical approaches, rather than flattening it, as it is an extension of Turkey's problem with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), or it is the result of the emigration from Turkey after the Kurdish revolutions at the beginning of the last century, as the second national component in Syria, which is about 15% of the population, according to unofficial statistics, suffers from a denial of its existence as a people living on its historical land, and some parties insist to deal with them as an emergency guest in the country, in order not to obtain any rights other than those which could be called second-class citizenship, so the issue to make them absent of the path of the constitution is to put the cart in front of the horse, and thus aggravating the issue more and more.
The list of the civil society formed by the United Nations was the knot of the chainsaw on the path of the Constitutional Committee, as the Syrian government dispute with the opposition remained in place for several months, to accept a solution for the problem of six disputed names between the two sides.
The two stumbling rounds which have been accomplished can be relied upon in the upcoming rounds. Once the committee’s sessions are held under the joint chairmanship of the two main parties, and agreeing on a framework mechanism for drafting decisions, it is an important breakthrough for the case of irreversibility which prevailed during the past two years.
Perhaps, being in the Constitutional Committee isn't a true criterion for including any constitutional rights for the components of the Syrian state or even for determining the form of the state and its political system, since these matters are related to regional and international understandings which are much more important than the understanding of the 150 Committee members, but the presence within the committee remains an issue which expresses the balance of the influencing powers in the Syrian scene. Being there is a recognition of political representation on the ground, and therefore in the future of Syria.
Saudi Arabia is trying to enter the line of the political process in Syria again, and it wants to invest the files of East Euphrates and the Constitutional Committee in order to blackmail Turkey which had started a policy of nibbling the Autonomous Administration since 2017and trying to eliminate its foundations, in addition to that, it has monopolized the representation of the Syrian opposition and created its followers within the opposition, that follow its orders and end its prohibitions.
Riyadh wants to return to the Syrian square after leaving it due to its faltering in Yemen since 2015, and having to give up its main ally in Syria, the groups of "Jaysh al-Islam" (the Army of Islam), which used to control large parts of Ghouta in eastern Damascus.
The Constitutional Committee may be exposed to attempts of obstruction by the regime and the opposition, and by those following them from the list of the civil society, because the results of their work will end many of their gains that they gained during the war years.
But the committee remains an essential pillar of the solution for the Syrian dilemma, which has been proven that there is no military solution. Therefore, the golden rule that must be relied upon is "no winners, no losers", as every winner will be despotic, and every loser will be subject to retaliation against the despotic ruler.
Achieving the constitutional entitlement will give a great impetus to the settlement in Syria, so parties of the war must be aware that there is no chance of a complete victory for any project. Therefore, the participation of the largest spectrum of the Syrians will be beneficial to all, and excluding any component of it is only a prolongation of the war.