Pedersen Meets Albahra and SNC Delegation in the Constitutional Committee in Geneva

The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Mr. Geir O. Pedersen, visited Mr. Hadi Albahra, the Co-Chair of the Constitutional Committee, at his residence in Geneva on Sunday morning, 29 May. The meeting was attended by members of the SNC delegation in the Small Body of the Constitutional Committee. Preparations of the Eighth Session of the Constitutional Committee’s meetings were discussed. The session will start on Monday, 30 May and concludes by the end of the week.

Ahead to this meeting, members of the SNC delegation in the Small Body of the Constitutional Committee, which arrived in Geneva on Saturday with the media support team and experts, have held internal meetings in the morning, during which they reviewed the principles that will be discussed during this session and which will be presented by the three parties to the Constitutional Committee.
The two Co-Chairs held the preparatory meeting on Sunday afternoon, facilitated by the UN Special Envoy for Syria. The Co-Chairs held then a meeting with the third party representing civil society. The four constitutional principles that will be discussed in this session in the coming days was jointly approved by the two Co-Chairs.

The agenda for the week was reviewed, and the four principles to be discussed throughout the week were agreed by the two Co-Chairs, they are:

• Unilateral coercive measures from a constitutional standpoint.
• Maintaining and strengthening State’s institutions.
• The supremacy of the Constitution and the position of international treaties.
• Transitional Justice.

One day will be spent on each principle.

After his meeting with Pedersen, Albahra said “We discussed with the UN envoy the joint efforts made in preparation for this Eighth Session of the Constitutional Committee’s meetings. We expressed our hope that all parties would abide by the rules of procedures, mechanisms and work methodology, as the time is ripe for everyone to seriously and responsibly engage to fulfil the drafting of a new constitution and quickly move forward in the other tracks of the political solution to the Syrian cause, through the full and strict implementation of UNSCR 2254 (2015)”.

It is noteworthy that the United Nations announced on 23 September, 2019 that an agreement had been reached between the “Syrian Government” and the “SNC” on the formation of a balanced, credible and inclusive constitutional committee, comprising representatives of the government, the opposition and civil society, to discuss and draft a new constitution, or produce a constitutional reform, within the path of a political solution in accordance with the Geneva Communiqué and based on UNSCR 2254 of 2015 and relevant resolutions.

The Constitutional Committee is composed of fifty members from each of the three parties. The Small Body is composed of 45 members, fifteen members from each party. The Small Body convene its meetings in Geneva. The first meeting was held on October 2019.