The announcement of the agreement on the formation of the constitutional committee for drafting a new constitution in Syria
**This image is for use with this specific article only** Opposition members who took part in the conference at the Black Sea resort of Sochi heckled Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday during his speech before the walkout, video posted online by the Foreign Ministry shows.
Member of the opposition political body in the Astana talks, “Salim Al Khatib,” announced that, it was agreed on the names of the Syrian Constitutional Committee after long waiting and sharp differences about the third part of the representatives, which are from the civil society.
Al Khatib said: “The announcement of the formation of the Constitutional Committee came after the arrival of Russia and the United Nations to resolve the problem of names that want to be named, while at the same time that the official declaration will be during the meeting of foreign ministers of the guarantor states (Russia / Turkey / Iran) Geneva on 18 and 19 this month.
The date of the ministers’ formal announcement of the commission comes one day before UN envoy Stephan De Mistura made his briefing to the UN Security Council on the Syrian crisis and the constitutional committee on the 20th of this month.
The Constitutional Committee has been taken into consideration since February in the final statement of the Sochi Conference and later included in the Astana Statement of Guarantor Countries.
The Syrian government initially handed over the names of its representatives, while the opposition was delayed in presenting its representatives.
The government accused it of delay before the opposition determined its candidates and sent them to the guarantors and De Mistura.
Later, the opposition and the UN envoy accused the government in Damascus to disrupt the formation of the third part representatives of the committee that represent the Syrian civil society, while Damascus says that De Mistura is not entitled to name the members of the Syrian Constitutional Committee.
The recent meeting of Astana had announced the agreement on all but eight names, but it seems that the names have been agreed upon.
It is noteworthy that the Constitutional Committee includes three lists, the list of government, the opposition, and a list representing civil society is a problem sponsored by the Guarantor States of Russia, Turkey and Iran, in addition to the United Nations.
A source familiar with the “Supreme Negotiating Body” in the Syrian opposition has confirmed that the agreement on the formation of the committee and announce it will be next week.
The United Nations is working to form a committee that is supposed to prepare a new constitution for the country, consisting of 150 people (50 selected by Damascus, 50 selected by the opposition, 50 chosen by the United Nations from representatives of civil society and experts).
The eleventh round of Astana talks between the government and the Syrian opposition ended last week without establishing the committee.
The US special envoy for Syria, James Jeffrey said at a conference last week, that if the formation of the constitutional committee for the amendment of the Syrian constitution fails by the middle of this month, the United States will end the path of Astana.
Jeffrey added that the “Western” initiative in Sochi and Astana should not be continued.
The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday that the Russian inter-ministerial delegation, with the participation of representatives of the Ministry of Defense and the Russian Foreign Ministry, discussed with Syrian President Bashar Al Assad the start of work on forming the constitutional committee and developments in Syria and around it.
“The talks focused on developments in and around Syria.
Special attention was given to the task of forming and launching the work of the constitutional committee in accordance with the decisions of the Syrian National Dialogue and UN Security Council Resolution 2254”, the statement said.
The meeting was attended by the Special Envoy to Syria, Alexander Lavrentev and Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Verchinen.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Russia is working closely with its partners to form a constitutional committee to develop a vision of constitutional reform in Syria and launch its work as soon as possible.
In turn, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the effectiveness of the constitutional committee in Syria is more important than the date of its formation.
