Syrian Negotiation Commission renew rejection over illegal precedential election
ISTANBUL, Turkey (North Press) – On Friday, the opposition delegation of the Syrian Negotiations Committee renewed its rejection of the upcoming presidential election in which president Bashar Assad would run, describing it as “illegal.”
This remark came in televised statements from the co-chair of the Constitutional Committee Hadi al-Bahra, published on the Syrian Negotiations Committee’s Facebook page on Friday.
Al-Bahra said, “Holding any elections before implementing UN Resolution 2254 of 2015 are considered illegal elections.”
He added, “The Syrian regime re-wrote the constitution in 2012, but it did not solve any issues with it, because it was written by it in order to dominate all authorities.”
“The upcoming elections will not make Bashar Assad a legitimate president,” he stressed.
He pointed out that “most countries of the free world, including the European Union, the United Kingdom, and America, will not recognize the legitimacy of these elections.”
“The most important of all is the Syrian people, who will not recognize these elections. We are talking about a country, and according to official UN statements, there are more than five million refugees outside Syria,” he stated, adding, “If Iran did not support the regime and Russia did not interfere, it would be on the verge of collapse.”
“The Syrian decision has been stolen, as the Syrian powers are no longer the ones responsible for issuing decisions; rather, the foreign powers are, and the same goes for the political decision,” according to al-Bahra.
In late January, Syrian Negotiations Committee President Anas al-Abdeh stressed that the election that Assad was preparing for was illegal and did not represent Syrians.
He indicated that the elections should be held according to UN Resolution 2254 and after entering the transitional government stage and writing the new constitution.
“The illegality of any elections since 2011 has been resolved by the people who delegitimized Assad and his regime,” a source close to the opposition, who preferred not to be named, told North Press.
“The important thing is not to discuss the legitimacy or lack of elections, but to take the state back from the regime and get rid of Bashar Assad,” the source added.
“Legitimacy is based on three conditions, which are a sovereign state, a stable legitimate constitution, and a free people…these three conditions are not found in our country, which delegitimizes any ruler,” according to the source.
On January 29th, UN Envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen announced that the political process had not achieved anything yet for Syrians.
Pedersen stressed that the Constitutional Committee has been one-sided and unable to solve the Syrian crisis. He also pointed out that he hoped that the Committee would be open to a broader political process, but it could not work alone.
Early in February, al-Abdeh called on Pedersen to reveal the party that obstructed the work of the Constitutional Committee in its fifth round, which ended days ago without making any progress.