On the third and final day of its 19th meeting, the General Assembly approved the draft document of basic principles for a political settlement to the Syrian conflict. The 13-item document sets out a roadmap for a political solution in Syria.
The document emphasizes the need to resume negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations based on the results of the Geneva II Conference and based on the relevant Security Council resolutions (2042, 2043, 2059 issued in 2012). It also stresses that the negotiating process must result in the implementation of the Geneva declaration in accordance with the provisions of Articles 16 and 17 of the UN Security Council resolution No. 2118, issued in 2013 by mutual consent, starting with the formation of “transitional governing body with full power executive powers, including the powers of the President of Republic and his authority over the state ministries, agencies and state institutions, including the armed forces, police intelligence and security agencies and branches.
Moreover, the draft document stresses that the any political process must bring about real and comprehensive change to the current political system, including the head of the regime and his inner circle and security forces, and the establishment of a civil, democratic, pluralistic system that ensures equal rights and duties for all Syrians.
The document also spell outs that stopping the killings and targeting, displacing, detaining and torturing of civilians is a prerequisite for resuming the negotiation process, and a test for the Assad regime’s compliance with of human rights laws and the UN Security Council resolutions on Syria.
The document also specifies the powers of the transitional governing body as the sole legitimate and legal authority that will ensure Syria’s sovereignty over its entire territory and defines 12 responsibilities and powers of the transitional governing body in the transitional period.
As the draft document spells out, the transitional governing body will take on arrangement for holding a national consensus conference involving all the components of the Syrian people and representatives of political and revolutionary and civil forces and independent figures to outline a new constitution.
The transitional governing body will hold internationally-monitored elections according to elected members of a Constituent Assembly which will take on drafting a new constitution for Syria. The transitional governing body will then hold a referendum on a new constitution under the auspices of the United Nations.
The transitional governing body must take effective steps to ensure the participation of all components of the Syrian people in the transitional process and to lay out an integrated strategy to end violence and fight terrorism and to ensure freedom of expression and equal rights for all Syrians without discrimination.
Furthermore, the draft document intimates that the transitional governing body should work in coordination with the Security Council and the United Nations to guarantee compliance with its decisions. It also points out that the transitional governing body should specify independent and neutral standards adopted by the UN Security Council to take measures under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations in the case of non-compliance with any of the provisions of the agreement.
Finally, the draft document states that the transitional government body will considered dissolved once the elected executive bodies begin exercising their constitutional powers, while the Constituent Assembly will be dissolved once the elected parliament holds its first session. (Source: Syrian Coalition)
