Syrian opposition urges UN to press for new constitution at talks in Geneva

The UN must push for the Syrian government to draft a new constitution during talks in Geneva this week, a senior opposition member told The National on Tuesday.

The situation in the country would deteriorate further if no changes are made, opposition spokesman Yahya Al Aridi said.

Representatives from Syria’s government, opposition and civil society began the fifth round of talks in the Swiss city on Monday.

The dialogue is aimed at revising the constitution and finding a political way forward for the war-torn country.

“We need the UN and its envoy to dot the i's and cross the t's as this is what is needed and expected,” Mr Al Aridi  said.

A new constitution is the only way out for Syria, he said.

“Writing [a new constitution], adhering and putting it up for a referendum would be a way to rescue the country and it is up to the UN to commit itself to what it says,” he said.

The meetings in the Swiss city are expected to last one week. Previous rounds of talks have been affected by strong differences between government and opposition delegates on what the constitution should look like.

If all sides agree on the drafting of a new constitution, that would enable the country to hold UN-supervised elections.

A constitutional committee made up of 150 members from Syria’s three sides has been put in place.

UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen told the UN Security Council last week that many subjects have been discussed for more than a year, and it was time for the committee to ensure "the meetings are better organised and more focused."
"I believe that we need to ensure that the committee begins to move from 'preparing' a constitutional reform to 'drafting' one, as it is mandated to do," Mr Pedersen said.

Mr Pedersen is the fourth UN envoy to try to mediate peace in Syria, where rebels are holding on to a last piece of territory in the north-west.

Members of the opposition and civil society have called for new constitutional content covering the administrative and judicial arms of the government, as well as the identity of the country.

If no progress is made, Mr Al Aridi said, it would show that “we are living in a loose world controlled by the law of power and not the power of law, this is what is happening in Syria and no one cares.”

The Syrian official said he had low expectations for progress based on the opposition’s experiences with the regime.

“There are two parties – each party is reading from a different page, one with no responsibility whatsoever except for the continuation of dictatorship and the other is determined to rewrite a new way of life for Syria,” he said.

The government has continued to make speeches about the sovereignty of the country amid the talks.

Mr Al Aridi said he does not object to them but the regime has enabled Iran-backed militias, Hezbollah, Russia and Israeli war planes to interfere in Syria

“Yet, they continue to talk about preserving sovereignty. In fact the meeting is about writing a constitution that will bring Syria back to life,” he said.

The constitution, he said, must be rebuilt in a way that would not allow a “dictatorship to do what it has done to Syria during the last ten years.”

Washington and several other western capitals accuse Syria’s President Bashar Al Assad of delaying the drafting of a new constitution to waste time until elections are held to avoid the vote that the UN Security Council has called for.

Presidential elections are scheduled to take place between April 16 and May 16 according to Syria’s election laws. They are set to commence 90 days before Mr Al Assad’s seven-year term expires, he has been in power since 2000.

Mr Al Aridi called on Arab nations to come to Syria’s rescue as the “aggression and oppression continues to be there.”

Once all sides come to an agreement, 45 participants – 15 from each of the three groups – will draft the final document, while the larger body will be responsible for enforcing it. This will pave the way for nationwide elections.

The meetings in Geneva this week involve 15 people from each delegation and was taking place amid measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus.