Press release
Syrian Opposition Coalition
Department of Media and Communications
February 11, 2021
For the first time, the UN envoy indicated in his latest briefing to the UN Security Council that the Assad regime was to blame for the failure of the fifth session of the Constitutional Committee. Geir Pedersen stated that he had informed the UN Security Council that the Co-chair of the Syrian Negotiations Commission had submitted a proposal on procedural issues, and that the UN envoy also submitted a separate proposal, both of which were rejected by the Assad regime’s delegation.
The Syrian people can no longer bear the disruption of the political process. We believe that the UN envoys’ closing remarks pointing to the need for a broader political path to be consistent with our demands to open all tracks of the political solution, chief among them is the formation of a transitional governing body with full powers.
We also believe that the UN envoy’s call for constructive international diplomacy on Syria to be positive as well and correspond with our demands regarding the need for activating Article 21 of UN Resolution 2118 related to taking practical measures against the Assad regime under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. This Article needs to be effectively activated in order to ensure reaching a political solution in accordance with UN Resolution 2254 according to a strict international monitoring mechanism in which the American, European, Arab and Turkish efforts are combined without leaving any window for the regime to manipulate and disrupt the political process.
The Syrian Opposition Coalition stresses the need to abide by UN resolutions that have already defined the framework of the political process. It stresses the importance of exerting real pressure on the backers of the Assad regime in order to force it to implement UN resolutions and push the political process ahead, including through the release of detainees, the formation of a transitional government body with full powers, and drafting a new constitution so as to lay the groundwork for democratic transition in Syria.
