Syrian government delegation curbs, delays Constitutional Committee’s work: opposition
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – On Tuesday, member of the Constitutional Committee Muhammad al-Sa’di saidthat the Syrian government delegation travelled to Geneva in order to curb and delay the Committee’s work and the political solution.
The call for the formation of the Constitutional Committee and the Syrian National discussions came at the end of the Sochi conference in late January 2018.
In the declaration of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, on September 23, 2019, the Syrian government and the negotiating committee’s approval to establish a credible, balanced and comprehensive constitutional committee to be facilitated by UN in Geneva was done.
UN Envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen opened the first round of talks on October 30, 2019.
Three delegations participated the round, including “the opposition negotiating committee, civil society, and the Syrian government.”
“It was supposed to finish the constitution project within six months,” al-Sa’di, who participated in the first round, told North Press.
However, the government delegation’s delay and refusal to set certain timetables for the Constitutional Committee’s work curbed this achievement, which meant “the regime’s delegation is travelling to Geneva in order to disrupt the committee’s work and postpone the political solution,” according to al-Sa’di.
“It is difficult to evaluate the last meetings of the Constitutional Committee in the light of the systematic delays of the regime,” he stressed.
He also stated that the Constitutional Committee had a lot of work to do regarding the constitutional terms.
He elaborated on these works, including, “discussing general norms and principles related to the state, the state’s structure, the administrative divisions, the form of the governing system, the nature of the political system, and the legal system, and its characteristics.”
“Rights, and freedoms, economic, social and cultural principles, the judicial system, and strengthening the constitution,” were also priorities, according to the Committee member.
The Constitutional Committee has a lot of work to do “in the light of the absence of any real and effective pressure by the guarantor countries to urge the government delegation to fulfill their duties towards the implementation of the constitution draft,” according to al-Sa’di.