Head of the national delegation to meetings of the Committee for Discussing the Constitution in Geneva, Dr. Ahmad al-Kuzbari reiterated that the Committee for Discussing the Constitution is a Syrian committee and no one has the right to intervene in its

In an interview with the Syrian TV channel, Al-Kuzbari clarified that the national delegation will participate in the fifth round of the committee’s meetings because it wants to achieve progress in its work, noting that  dealing with the constitutional principles requires firm basis that should be agreed upon with the other party on the national principles.

Al-Kuzbari noted that the work of the committee focuses on discussing constitutional reform which can be achieved through amending some of the articles of the current constitution and at the same time it should be open to drafting a new constitution that would meet all the goals of the Syrian state and would safeguard the national principled stances, and most importantly it should be accepted by the Syrian people.

He added that there is complete inconsistency between the other parties participating in the meetings of the Committee for Discussing the Constitution as they don’t have a main narrative that unites them. He  noted that when the national delegation in the two previous rounds suggested  some of the identifiers of the national identity such as the name of the state, the official language and the belonging and loyalty to the homeland and defending it, in addition to not offending the national symbols such as the flag and the anthem, the other party rejected them.

Al-Kuzbari indicated that the third and the fourth rounds were dedicated  to discussing the national bases and principles and not the constitutional ones which will be the subject of the fifth round that will be held in the second half of next January, adding that there is no agreement on any item within the national principles proposed by the other party.

The Head of the delegation pointed out that on the final day of the last session of the meetings of the Committee for Discussing the Constitution, head of the other participating delegation violated the regulations of conduct and the measures, therefore, some members of the national delegation objected to that violation and, “we got guarantees from the UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen that such provocations will not be repeated in the forthcoming rounds.

Al-Kuzbari said that during the two previous rounds, the national delegation proposed a paper that contains about eight principles including the file for the return of refugees, rejecting any separatist plan for the Syrian territory, and lifting the embargo and the unilateral coercive measures imposed by some states on the Syrian people, but we haven’t found any response from the other participating  party.

K.Q.