Syrian National Coalition official: “We rely on Constitutional Committee to support the political process”
Cairo – North-Press Agency
Muhammad Abo Zayd
The representative of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces in Cairo, Adel Al-Halawani said that “The Syrian opposition wasn’t relying on the issue of forming the constitutional committee that much, its basic adherence was the Geneva Declaration and the UN resolutions, but after it was agreed in Astana Meeting to follow the path of forming the Constitutional Committee, it did not want to be an obstacle or a barrier to any path of political solution, and hence came the opposition’s involvement in the constitutional committee”.
In an exclusive interview with North-Press from Cairo, the representative of the Syrian National Coalition in Egypt, stated that “The main reliance of the Syrian opposition is on UN resolutions, especially /2254/ that states the process of political transition in Syria, and the constitutional committee forms steps in the political solution that stated by the relevant international resolutions, where the Syrian opposition participates in through ten members of Riyadh Conference as representatives of the High Negotiations Committee, in addition to participants from the international community close to the opposition and the Syrian National Coalition”.
“There seems to be a dynamic state of political transition in the current period in the implementation of the Resolution 2254, and there are an international trend and interest in this regard after more than eight years of the Syrian crisis, and its consequences and difficult repercussions, but the situation on the ground, in turn, reflects the regime and its allies in military escalation, which may end after the start of the political process,” he added.
The Political solution
During his interview with North-Press, the representative of the Syrian National Coalition, stressed that “Nothing will stop the bloodshed in Syria, but the political solution, with the start of the political solution and the practical steps, the military solution in Syria will stop automatically,” confirming that both the Syrian government and Russia are responsible for the latest escalation in northwestern Syria, as “they did not respect the non-escalation agreements and treaties they held and agreed on”.
Regarding the guarantees of the success of the political process in the light of the current escalation on the ground and the extent of the parties’ respect for any upcoming pledges on the path of political solution, Al-Halawani indicated that “No one in the opposition trusts the regime nor its pledges, but we accept the political path of the hope that superpowers play a role in pressing the regime to accept it and any upcoming transitional steps”.
The Russian position
As for the Russian position regarding the political process, Al-Halawani said that “Before engaging in military action, Russia was at first with the political solution. Russia does not support the regime for free nor it’s a charity institution that supports it without any interests, Moscow has got well-known interests and it’s important to reassure its interests, once these interests were assured, it will not be interested in supporting the regime, especially in light of the successive losses that have been recently taking place in Syria”.
Adel Al-Halawani pointed out that the Syrian National Coalition adheres to the international resolutions that supported either political transition or political governing body. In the case of political transition, this is directly done through the transition from one regime to another, and in the case of the political body, it is formed under the international sponsorship and for a certain period preparing the atmosphere for a full political transition.
Al-Halawani reiterated on the issue of the problematic role of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in the transitional period, as there is a wide disagreement about that role, where the Syrian Coalition insists on the issue that Assad has no role in the next phase, while others see the importance of that, denying “Any disagreements within the Syrian National Coalition on the current situation of the rejection of any role of the current regime so far”.
Al-Halawani concluded his interview with North-Press by stressing on: “The opposition will not accept any role for the Syrian president in the transition period, but it may be pressured and forced by superpower countries to play that role in the political process”.