Syrian Opposition Still Silent on Gov't-Proposed Constitutional Committee Agenda - Reports
The opposition delegation to the Syrian Constitutional Committee (SCC) never responded to the proposal conveyed by the government delegation via UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen to start consultations for determining the committee's agenda, state-run Alikhbaria broadcaster reported on Wednesday, citing sources in the "national delegation."
On Monday, the second round of SCC consultations began, but the smaller committee failed to reconvene amid a disagreement between the government and opposition on the agenda and schedule of the discussion. According to opposition representative Yahya Aridi, the government delegation submitted some last-minute additions to the initial agenda, but the opposition deemed them political and irrelevant to the constitutional committee's mandate.
"We proposed that the UN special envoy proceed to the sessions during which we can discuss the agenda so that the sessions do not remain in limbo.
The delegates of the Turkish regime [Syrian opposition] still have not responded to the special envoy," the source was quoted as saying by the tv station.
The Syrian constitutional committee is a product of long-standing efforts by international mediators to reconcile the Syrian government and opposition. The 150-member body with equal representation of the government, opposition and civil society was launched on October 30 to work toward drafting a new constitution.
It has a smaller committee within it consisting of 45 members 15 from each of the three represented groups that will prepare constitutional initiatives. The larger body will be responsible for adopting them. The committee is co-chaired by opposition representative Hadi Bahra and government representative Ahmad Kuzbari.