‘Syrian Constitution Internal Matter Decided by Syrians’

Date: 17 March 2019 - 21:23

News ID: ۶۴۳۶۱

DAMASCUS (Dispatches) – Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said Sunday that the Syrian constitution is a sovereign Syrian matter decided by the Syrian people without foreign interference, according to the state news agency SANA.
Al-Moallem made the remarks during his meeting with visiting UN envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen, who arrived in Damascus earlier on Sunday for talks with Syrian officials on the political solution.
According to the report, al-Moallem and Pedersen discussed ideas related to the political process, including the formation of the constitutional committee that would be tasked with reviewing the current Syrian constitution.
The foreign minister, while saying that the Syrian constitution is an internal issue, stressed his government's resolve to cooperate with Pedersen to make his mission a success.
In January of this year, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that there is no timeframe to launch the constitutional committee in Syria, but the work needs to be done as quickly as possible.
He said that Syria needs a constitutional committee that is "indeed balanced" and accepted by all Syrian people.
Guterres said additional consultations will be needed since the UN's list for the constitutional committee was rejected by the Syrian government last year.
The launch of Syrian constitutional committee has become the centerpiece of UN efforts in the country, and its goal is to set up elections that can end eight years of devastating war.