Hadi Al-Bahra calls for Pedersen to set a timetable for the work of the Constitutional Committee

Hadi al-Bahra, the co-chair of the Constitutional Committee for the Syrian Opposition, called in a press statement yesterday, Sunday, to the UN Special Envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen, to set the Security Council with a picture of the facts proving the proceedings of the Constitutional Committee meetings, in addition to setting a timetable for the committee’s work.

Al-Bahra said: “The regime’s positions and practices have proven that it has no intention or seriousness towards any political solution that leads to the implementation of these decisions, and that everyone knows that no political solution is sustainable without the full and strict implementation of them.”

He added that “the regime’s delegation did not adhere to the agenda set for the fifth round, which led to the obstruction of the committee’s work and the lack of any progress in it.

The representatives of the system rejected a proposal submitted by the representatives of the negotiating body regarding a methodology for managing discussions in the committee to be fruitful and refused to submit a proposal for the methodology, as they refused the proposal made by the UN special envoy in this regard.

Al-Bahra emphasized that the representatives of the Assad regime also refused to propose formulas for basic constitutional principles, insisting that their proposals be limited in the framework of preparation and discussion to principles outside the context of the constitutional formulations, while the representatives of the Commission and some representatives of civil society presented approximately 35 constitutional drafting of basic principles, according to the agenda It is not interacted with in a way that it can produce an output.

Al-Bahra added: “The opposition delegation to those countries confirmed its insistence that the time has come to face the reality that you know well from the start, with the lack of seriousness of the regime towards the political process, and thus the impossibility of implementing Security Council decisions without an effective international will and international consensus to pressure the regime to reach a comprehensive and sustainable political solution that the regime’s procrastination and evading the political process cannot be silent about it.

Al-Bahra stressed that it has become the duty of the United Nations to call matters by their names, calling on the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to Syria to put the Security Council during his briefing, which he will present on February 9, with a picture of the facts proving the proceedings of the Constitutional Committee meetings in general and in particular the details of the last fifth session he also explained it in his closing speech to the committee.

The statement also called on the UN envoy to find a timetable for the work of the Constitutional Committee, and a methodology for managing the debate in order to be fruitful.

He also reminded of what the Syrian Negotiation Commission demanded and the necessity to find binding mechanisms to implement what was stated in Resolution 2254 of 2015, regarding confidence-building steps, on top of which is the release of detainees, knowledge of the fate of those forcibly disappeared, and the completion of the implementation of what was stated in it regarding the establishment of a credible and comprehensive ruling for all as a transitional governing body.

Al-Bahra concluded his statement by saying: “The opposition delegation will follow up the international efforts and the measures that will result from them during the next month, and then it will submit a report containing our recommendations regarding the constitutional committee to the Syrian Negotiation Commission, for study, discussion and appropriate decision regarding it.”

Last Friday, the fifth round of the Constitutional Committee’s work ended without achieving any significant results. Pedersen described the results of the round as disappointing, and said that the Assad regime’s delegation rejected the proposals it submitted to the committee, and indicated that no date has been set for the next round of delegations’ meetings.