The U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen said on Friday (October 22) that the sixth round of the Syrian Constitutional Committee had been a "big disappointment" and did not find a common path to draft a new constitution or agree on a date for the next round.
The drafting committee, comprising 45 representatives of Syria's government, opposition and civil society, has a mandate to draw up a new Charter leading to U.N.-supervised elections.
During the latest week-long talks in the two-year effort, the sides presented draft constitutional texts outlining positions on issues including sovereignty, the army and the rule of law, Pedersen said.
“I think it’s fair to say that the discussion today was a big disappointment”, he told a press conference.
“We lacked a proper understanding on how to move that process forward”, he added.
Ahmad Kuzbari, the Syrian government representative, said that its delegation had done "everything in its power to make this round a success" and put the blame squarely on the opposition delegation.
“We listened to all proposals made by some of the participants. Unfortunately some of them were far from reality and even reflected malign thoughts and aggressive agendas," Kuzbari told a separate press conference.
Some opposition delegates "even legitimized" what Kuzbari referred to as Israel's "occupation" and "justified the unilateral coercive measures (sanctions) which are illegitimate and illegal", he said.
"In addition, the opposition factions were attempting to legitimize the Turkish and U.S. occupation of Syrian territory.”
Hadi Al-Bahra, the Syrian opposition representative, pointed the finger at the government delegation, telling a separate press conference: "There were not even attempts to achieve a consensus."
The opposition sought a halt to the fighting and the start of a real political process, including a new constitution and guarantees that it dilutes power away from the executive branch of government, he said.
REUTERS
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