The Syrian Negotiations Commission denounced the Assad regime’s submission of an agenda for a new round of talks by the Constitutional Committee to the UN special envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen. It described the regime’s move as ‘cynical’ as it came at a time when all world countries are closing their borders and airports for fear of the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a press release issued on Monday, the Commission said that the Assad regime asked the international envoy to prepare a new round of talks by the Constitutional Committee in Geneva next week. It pointed out that the regime pretends it is willing to engage in the political process after it desperately sought to evade and disrupt this process.
The Commission pointed out that the Assad regime had previously rejected six proposals that the Commission submitted and which were consistent with the mandate and powers of the Committee. It added that the regime still sets preconditions before entering into any talks on the constitution by insisting on an agenda that is not consistent with the Committee’s mandate and procedural rules governing the work of the Committee.
The Commission called on the United Nations and the international community to take the necessary measures towards the health situation in Syria and help prevent the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, ensure the release of detainees, and dispatch teams to ascertain the conditions inside the regime’s prisons.
Furthermore, it called on the United Nations and the UN envoy to put an end to the regime that is manipulating the fate of Syria and the Syrian people. It also called for forcing Russia, as the protector and guarantor of the regime, to honor its commitments and hold it responsible for covering up the regime’s tampering with the lives and fate of the Syrian people. (Source: SOC’s Media Department)