GENEVA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th October, 2019) UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called on the Syrian warring parties to halt fighting and create conditions for changes that will be proposed by the constitutional committee.
The committee will be launched at the UN office in Geneva on Wednesday after years of painstaking efforts to mediate between the Syrian government, opposition and UN-backed civil society groups.
"The Constitutional Committee's launch and work must be accompanied by concrete actions to build trust and confidence," Guterres said in a statement.
He stressed that "meaningful engagement in the Constitutional Committee, accompanied by a cessation of hostilities across the country" would help UN special envoy Geir Pedersen facilitate a broader political process.
The committee will be made up of three sets of 50 nominees named by Damascus, the opposition and the UN. Nearly 30 percent of them will be women. The panel is expected to either amend or write a new constitution from scratch.
Guterres said he expected their work to become the "first step on the political path out of the tragedy" of the eight-year war. All parties are expected to work toward finding a solution that respects Syria's sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity.
