UN envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen addresses Security Council via video, May 18, 2020
More than 2 1/2 years after talks on Syria’s constitutional reform were launched, and with little advance since then, UN envoy Geir Pedersen has again told the Security Council that there is “an opportunity to reconcile differences and establish a social contract with people across the country”.
Russia proposed the process in January 2018, propping up the Assad regime and hoping to give up a veneer of legitimacy. However, discussions have progressed little beyond the establishment of a 150-member Constitutional Committee. The regime has insisted that priority must be given to “sovereignty” and “terrorists” — its label for anti-Assad factions — rather than political reform.
The last round of talks, scheduled for November 29, did not even begin because of regime objections to the agenda.
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Discussions are due to resume in Geneva on Monday.
Pedersen tried to project success through the presence of women in the talks, but said little about substance. Instead, he spoke of the need for “a broader political process” mandating the Constitutional Committee to “prepare and draft for popular approval constitutional reform as a contribution to the political settlement in Syria”.
I continue to encourage all committee members to come to Geneva ready to engage in earnest on the substance, on the basis of the agenda that the co-chairs have agreed, without of course any preconditions.
US Rejoins Talks
The US, which has largely been shut out of the political process by Russia since 2018, welcomed an invitation to participate next week. Ambassador Kelly Craft invited delegations to “go beyond the previous discussions and directly discuss constitutional reforms”, and said the Trump Administration fully supports Pedersen. She called for a firm stance against any party blocking advance in the negotiations.
Craft called for a halt to Russian-regime attacks on northwest Syria and for the end to killing and abuse of detainees in regime prisons. She said there would be no American support for reconstruction without the start of a meaningful political process for a new Constitution, a nationwide ceasefire, and UN-supervised elections.
However, Craft diluted the effect of the statement by opening with an assault on Council members for not backing a US effort to extend an arms embargo against Iran.
The Trump Administration, after months of effort, gained only the support of the Dominican Republican in a vote on its resolution last week.
Trump Administration Humiliated in UN Vote on Iran Arms Embargo
Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya declared the importance of maintaining political dialogue. But in line with the Assad regime, he emphasized “sovereignty” and denounced “terrorists”, and he accused the US of stealing Syrian oil.
See US Oil Company Signs Deal With Kurdish Administration in Northeast Syria
