Pedersen: Main criterion of Constitution is integrity of Syria

  • actual
  • 15:21 29 October 2019
  • |
img

GENEVA - The Constitutional Committee will be formally launched on Wednesday in the Palais des Nations in Geneva. It vows to be inclusive, hovewer he Autonomous Administration won't be represented.

The United Nations special envoy for Syria will meet the foreign ministers of Turkey, Iran and Russia in Geneva today, a day before talks among the 150 members of the Constitutional Committee in Geneva are scheduled to begin.
 
Announcing the plan for discussions with Turkey's Mevlut Cavusoglu, Iran's Mohammad Javad Zarif and Russia's Sergey Lavrov, UN envoy Geir Pedersen said the fighting in northeast Syria and Idlib province was "just another proof of the importance to get a serious political process under way".
 
Pedersen said: "As you know we have agreed that this is to be a Syrian-led, Syrian-owned Constitutional process– facilitated by the United Nations and I think Jenifer already mentioned it will be launched here on Wednesday.
 
The agreement to establish the Constitutional Committee – with terms of reference and core rules of procedure – marks the first political agreement between the Government of Syria and the opposition. That’s my first point."
 
The second point, said Pedersen "is that this marks a clear acceptance of the other as an interlocutor in the political process outlined in Security Council resolution 2254."
 
The third point is that "the committee commits the government and the opposition and their nominees to sit together face-to-face in dialogue and negotiations."
 
The fourth point is that "it also creates spaces for the voices of civil society and for them to be heard, together with the voices of the government and the opposition."
 
Asked by a journalist whether the Kurds or the SDF would be part of this committee, Special Representative Pedersen said: "There are Kurds in this committee, but you are right that there will be no representative on behalf of the Democratic Syrian Forces."
 
Outlining the role of the Constitutional Committee’s work, Pedersen said that this "is framed by key principles – including respect for the United Nations charter, relevant Security Council resolutions, Syria’s sovereignty, unity, independence and territorial integrity, and the Syrian-led and -owned nature of the process."
 
The principles also include the objective of UN supervised elections as envisaged in resolution 2254 based on a new constitution, and the need for a broader political process to implement resolution 2254.
 
Pedersen added: "The Committee is mandated, within the context of an UN-facilitated Geneva process, to prepare and draft for popular approval a constitutional reform as a contribution to the political settlement in Syria and the implementation of Security Council resolution 2254. This is now agreed between the government and the opposition."
 
Decisions will be taken by consensus, where possible, and otherwise by majority of 75 percent. "This of course - said Pedersen - is to emphasize that no one bloc can dictate the outcomes and it will create, we hope, incentives to reach out to the middle ground and across the divide."

View More Articles

14/07/2020
14:36 Two sons died in war, one son in prison: 70-year-old woman detained
14:35 HDP: We will keep on struggle against the enemies of the people's will
14:35 Öcalan’s lawyer: Legal isolation combined with physical isolation in İmralı
10:26 Many Kurdish activists detained in police operations in Antep
10:25 Police operations in Diyarbakır, many woman activists detained
10:14 Journalist Ayşe Güney detained
13/07/2020
18:01 EU foreign ministers meet to discuss EU-Turkey relations
17:07 Figen Yüksekdağ’s lawyers: The only politician arrested twice for the same charge
16:25 COVID-19 and prisons: 3 prisoners in Diyarbakır diagnosed with coronavirus
15:46 Erdoğan and Putin speaks over the phone
14:46 'Anyone who is against the war should take responsibility to break the isolation'
13:20 Kazan spoke on controversial law: An attempt to eradicate the right of defense
11:40 HDP MP Koç: Multiple bar system yields to consolidation of fascism
11:37 HDP Co-Mayor detained in raid, town hall under blockade
12/07/2020
17:59 Turkey's Religious Affairs: Hagia Sophia will be appointed two imams
17:37 Report of Tanrıkulu: 281 violations of “right to live” in Turkey in June
16:46 One more arrest in Mardin after the mother arrested with baby
16:27 AKP Spokesperson Çelik on Hagia Sophia: The longing of our nation fulfilled
15:43 Death toll rises to 21 as migrant boat sinks in Lake Van
15:26 Pope Francis ‘deeply pained’ over Turkey’s move on Hagia Sophia
15:08 Call to the Supreme Court as lawyers lose extreme weight on death fast
14:28 Historian Dinç: Opening Hagia Sophia for worship on 'July 24' means something
13:20 Earthquake in Georgia
12:51 4 prosecutors not investigate the perpetrators, but terrorize the killed family
11:50 Attack on largest Russian airbase in Latakia
10:50 Hagia Sophia: Letter from World Council of Churches to Turkey
10/07/2020
17:58 Lawyers pass the police baricades, march to the parliament
17:32 Sent to prison with her 10-month-old baby
17:11 Hunger strike to Didem Akman who has been on death fast
16:51 Lawyers not allowed in Kuğulu Park
16:50 Restriction to detainees to access lawyers
16:49 İmralı isolation is on the agenda of the parliament
16:49 Bar heads continued their vigil on benches
14:40 Raids and detentions in Adana and Mersin
09/07/2020
18:19 Police blockade on bar heads continue, lawyers are not allowed to join them
17:55 Hrant Dink trial posponed: Rejection to summon the intelliengence to the court
16:59 Demand for justice for the Kurdish journalist Aziz Oruç
16:30 Bar heads under police blockade in Ankara
16:30 HDP announces the schedule of "Democracy Meetings"
12:36 Bar heads invite the lawyers to Ankara: We will be on duty
12:35 Lawyers file application to Prosecutor's Office to visit Öcalan
11:11 Kurdish politicians: All steps towards the national unity
11:10 Turkish Parliament passes the two articles of the much debated 'multiple bars' bill
08/07/2020
19:57 Online meeting for the freedom of Öcalan
19:34 Witnesses take the stand in Hrant Dink trial
18:22 Protest in Ankara Courthouse for lawyers on death fast
17:24 Controversial 'mass grave' trial referred to Constitutional Court
12:30 The door of the HDP member marked by 'Turkish flag'
12:30 Mortal shell and mine ready to explode found in Diyarbakır
07/07/2020
19:05 Journalist Demir's trial postponed