UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th June, 2023) The United Nations must work to overcome the issues that prevent the Syrian Constitutional Committee from reconvening and engaging in substantive work, UN Deputy Special Envoy for Syria Najaf Rochdi said on Thursday.
"In this regard, the Special Envoy (Geir Pedersen) continues his effort to reconvene the Constitutional Committee. We must overcome the issues that prevent the Committee from convening and to see it resumes its work and develops some substance and at pace," Rochdi said during a UN Security Council meeting.
The armed conflict in Syria has been ongoing since 2011, with various insurgent groups, including terrorist organizations, fighting the Syrian military in their efforts to oust the government of President Bashar Assad.
In January 2018, the Russian city of Sochi hosted a congress of the Syrian National Dialogue, the first such attempt since the beginning of the conflict to bring together an inclusive pool of Syrian political forces. The main outcome of the congress was the decision to create a constitutional committee, which will operate out of Geneva and whose main task will be to prepare for constitutional reform in Syria.
In June 2022, Russia suggested that a new venue should be chosen for meetings of the Syrian Constitutional Committee, expressing concerns that Switzerland had lost its impartiality and neutral status.
Earlier in June, Russian envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev said he had discussed with UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen options for holding Syrian Constitutional Committee talks in another country.
