7th round of Syrian Constitutional Committee ends no agreement reached
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The 7th round of the Syrian Constitutional Committee ended in Geneva without reaching any agreements between the involved parties.
The 7th round of constitutional talks started in Geneva on March 21 and ended on March 25, in the presence of representatives from the Syrian government, the opposition and civil society organizations.
For days, the small body of the Constitutional Committee discussed working papers submitted by delegation parties.
The Constitutional Committee has a Large and a Small Body: the Large Body comprises 150 members: 50 members of the government, 50 of the opposition, and 50 of civil society. While the Small Body comprises 45 members: 15 members for each party.
A series of press statements released by opposition figures about suspending the talk of the Constitutional Committee and restoring to the UN Resolution 2254.
Ahmad Ramadan, head of the strategic advisory department in the opposition Syrian National Coalition (SNC), said in a press briefing that freezing the opposition’s presence in the meetings of the Constitutional Committee has become a proposed option.
“The failure of the meetings of the so-called constitutional committee is expected and did not surprise anyone,” said the former member of the opposition’s High Negotiations Committee, Muhammad Sabra.
Sabra called on the opposition to suspend the talks of the Constitutional Committee and return to the UN Resolution 2254, and to demand its implementation without any concession.
The UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen cancelled a scheduled press conference on March 25, issuing only a written statement.
“I will do everything I can to bring closer viewpoints among the members through exerting my good offices, which is plainly needed. I will engage with the government of the Syrian Arab Republic and the Syrian Negotiations Commission. I will engage with the Co-Chairs and the civil society delegation of the Committee,” Pedersen stated.
“All delegations offered at least some revisions to some of the texts presented. Some of these embodied amendments indicating an attempt to reflect the content of the discussions and narrow differences. Others contained no changes,” Pedersen added.
Basics of Governance, submitted by nominees of the Syrian Negotiations Commission, which proposes that the rule in Syria be republican, and that sovereignty is for the people to be exercised through the means of voting. It also stipulates the peaceful transfer of power and political pluralism.
State Symbols, submitted by nominees of the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic, which includes the current state emblem, its flag, and its anthem, with its insistence that these symbols are not modifiable.
While State Identity was submitted by some of the civil society nominee, stressing that the name of the state must remain the Syrian Arab Republic, and that it is part of the Arab world, and the Syrian people are part of the Arab nation.
The 6th round of Constitutional Committee Talks ended on October 22, Pedersen said at the time: “Today’s talks were a big disappointment.”