The Constitutional Committee: The conclusion of the eighth round with great disagreements..a new date

The Syrian Constitutional Committee concluded without a press conference the work of the eighth round in the Swiss city of Geneva on Friday evening, after the mini-committee finished discussing 4 constitutional principles over a period of 5 days, set by the envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to Syria Geir Pedersen, who contented himself with a brief statement in which he revealed: There are major differences between the participating delegations over the submitted texts, in addition to setting the date for the start of the ninth round.

Prior to the start of the eighth round, Pedersen had identified 4 constitutional principles around which discussions would take place: “unilateral coercive measures from a constitutional standpoint, the preservation of state institutions, and the supremacy of the constitution at the site of international agreements, in addition to the principle of transitional justice.”

In a statement, the UN envoy said that “the revisions submitted by delegations about the texts revealed significant differences in regions, and in other regions there may be common ground.” At the same time, he added, “there is a slow pace of work, as well as a persistent inability to identify and conclude concrete areas of the interim agreement as areas in which there is much room for improvement.”

He indicated that he agreed with the co-chairs of the opposition delegations Hadi Al-Bahra and the regime, Ahmed Al-Kuzbari on “the importance of finding ways to accelerate work, achieve results and continuous progress, and exchange ideas for consideration in this regard”, reiterating his call to all members to work “with a sense of consensus on constitutional texts that are likely to To attract broad support among the Syrians.

For its part, the negotiating body representing the opposition confirmed that the principle presented by 8 members of the civil society delegation under the title: “unilateral coercive measures from a constitutional standpoint” is a “political proposal and has no place in the constitution,” adding that “the attempt to transfer those obligations It is the responsibility of the authority in its foreign policy, to a constitutional principle that is more burdensome to the constitution than it can bear.”

She described the text submitted by the delegation as “loose” and suitable for “a political discourse and is not suitable for setting legal controls and limitations,” pointing out that “the existence of a constitution text related to state sovereignty is sufficient to address all issues that violate sovereignty.”

Concerning the right of refugees to return, the authority said that this is “regulated by relevant international agreements and resolutions that necessitated the establishment of a safe and neutral environment for voluntary return,” noting that “it is not a matter of imposing external political conditions, but rather it is at the heart of the issue of refugee return, which must be safe, dignified and negated.” The reasons that prompted them to leave.

In turn, the head of the opposition delegation, Hadi Al-Bahra, said that at the end of the session, “a second session was held today between the two co-chairs of the Constitutional Committee and the UN envoy, through which it was initially agreed on the date of the next session to be held from 25 to 29 July.”