Syrian Govt. and Opposition delegates meet to draft New Constitution
The Syrian government and Opposition delegates met for the first time in the United Nations office in Geneva, Switzerland to draft a new constitution and to chart a political settlement to end eight-and-a-half-year civil war. A total of 150 Syrian constitutional committee delegates representing the Syrian government, opposition and civil society met under UN auspices. The new constitution would act as a prelude to U.N. supervised elections for their war-torn country.
Key Highlights
The objective of meeting was to agree on a new constitution for Syria, however it still reamins unclear that if this will mean redrafting existing constitution, written in 2012, or starting from beginning.
The meeting in Geneva is a key proposal from Russia and is being overseen by UN special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen. At present no deadline has been set for the end of talks, but all sides had promised to work expeditiously.
After about 9 years of civil war, the meeting of Syria’s arch-enemies is an historic moment. Moreover, reforming Syrian Constitution is first step towards beginning for a political process that will lead to UN-supervised elections under UN resolution 2254.
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Month: Current Affairs - October, 2019