The Assad regime introduces the refugee return file during the constitutional committee discussions

The first day of the meetings of the Syrian Constitutional Committee ended yesterday, Monday, in Geneva, with interventions from the participating delegations in which each party stressed its vision of “national principles”, while the Assad regime inserted the “refugee return file” as a national principle to discuss the new constitution.

Yesterday, Monday in Geneva, the Constitutional Committee for the Syrian Opposition stated that it had scheduled a “discussion of national foundations and principles” within its agenda at the meeting, where the delegation of the Syrian Negotiation Commission candidates presented interventions on national identity, state sovereignty, rule of law and the constitution as a social contract.

The opposition delegation added that “the constitution that the Syrian people seek shall be the constitution that preserves their dignity, guarantees them freedom, and achieves their sovereignty,” noting that “the national identity in Syria cannot be achieved without the interaction of components on the basis of equal rights and duties for all, approved by a national constitution whose base is freedoms. And the peaceful transfer of power.

Regarding the state’s sovereignty, the delegation said that “the real sovereignty of the state does not lie in its military strength or the extent of its hegemony as much as it is related above all to the position of the citizen within his country, and what is achieved in his favor in terms of social, political and cultural rights,” adding that “the loss of sovereignty is not separate from a crisis Citizenship, which protects sovereignty is not the army and security alone. The first person to protect sovereignty is the citizen who cares for the state that takes care of him, gives him his rights and does justice to him.

For its part, the Assad regime’s delegation stressed the need to adopt the issue of “the return of refugees” as an overarching national principle, given its importance at various levels, especially the human level, according to its claim.

The interventions of the Assad regime’s delegation “focused on the importance of some countries stopping politicizing this file and investing it to achieve political and economic interests at the expense of the continued suffering of the displaced Syrians, their poor living conditions, stopping the situation of obstacles in the face of the return of refugees to their country, and refraining from the formulas of intimidation and intimidation used by some Countries to persuade the Syrians not to return, ”according to her claim.
While the fourth round meetings of the mini-committee emanating from the expanded body to discuss the constitution began yesterday morning, at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, with the participation of the two delegations of the opposition and the Assad regime.

The UN envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, said, in a press conference last Saturday, that there is a lack of trust between the Syrian parties, and indicated that the agenda of the tour is not specified, and that it is the responsibility of the participating parties.

A source from the Constitutional Committee told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the actions of this session and the next session will not cause any breach, and during which the delegations will not discuss the essential articles of the constitution, due to the intransigence of the Assad regime and its desire to evade.

The Constitutional Committee, which is a product of the “Sochi” conference or the so-called “Syrian National Dialogue Conference” that was held in early 2018, consists of 150 members, one third of them from the opposition represented by the High Negotiating Authority, another third from the Assad regime, and the last third from the Syrian civil society.

Source: Agencies