Select Committee for amending Syrian constitution completes first session in Geneva

First session of the fourth round of the Select Committee for amending the Syrian constitution – AFP
First session of the fourth round of the Select Committee for amending the Syrian constitution – AFP

(North Press) – The first session of the fourth round of the Select Committee talks for amending the Syrian constitution concluded in Geneva, on Monday.

The third round of the Select Committee sessions ended on August 29 without achieving any results. 

Geir Pedersen, the UN special envoy to Syria, said earlier that this round could constitute a chance to focus more on finding a peaceful political solution of the Syrian crisis.

In a press conference held on November 29, Pederson indicated that the round may last for a week, according to Russia Today.

The work of the Constitutional Committee began in November 2019, in Geneva, Switzerland, to be stopped without achieving results, and the second round of the committee failed in the same month without holding a meeting.

Earlier in October, the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad said that “The Geneva talks are a political game, and it is not what the Syrian society focuses on.”

Pedersen said that the co-chairs of the committee agreed to discuss the national foundations and principles, while constitutional issues will be on the agenda in a fifth round, to be held next year.

The Constitutional Committee consists of 150 members, divided into representatives of the opposition, the Syrian government, and civil society. 

The Select Committee consists of 45 members (15 members for each delegation), which emerged from the Constitutional Committee.

Pedersen had anticipated the current round of talks with officials in Damascus, Ankara, Egypt, Moscow, Tehran and Riyadh.