UN says Syrian Constitutional Committee making 'positive' progress

GENEVA-Anadolu Agency

UN Special Representative for Syria Geir Pedersen's spokesperson Jennifer Fenton said on Nov.5 that the ongoing meetings of the Syrian Constitutional Committee are making "positive" progress.

"Special Representative Pedersen is happy with the progress of the meetings," she told Anadolu Agency, adding: "Many issues have been agreed on in a short time".

The first round of the meetings of the Syrian Constitutional Committee began on Oct. 30 with the participation of 150 members of the committee, and ended on Nov. 1.

A 45-person drafting committee made up of 15 people from the Syrian regime group, 15 opposition members, and 15 from civil society began Nov. 4's second round of talks, which lasted two hours.

Respectively, representatives of civil society, dissidents and the Syrian regime's editorial board welcomed the UN officials at the door.

Fenton noted that the parties had agreed on the "rules of conduct and protocol" that Pedersen had set for the meetings.

Hadi al-Bahra, the co-chair for the opposition group, said in a statement on Nov. 4 the meeting had given positive messages.

Al-Bahra added that the meeting went well setting out the path for discussion on the constitution.

The Syrian Constitutional Committee has two structures, one large group and a small one.

There is a 45-person editorial or drafting board whose work must be approved by a larger structure of 150 people, with consensus or the approval of at least 75% of the members.

The Constitutional Committee has two co-chairs, including al-Bahra, the former president of the Syrian Opposition and Revolutionary Forces National Coalition, and the regime’s co-chair Ahmed Kuzbari, a lawyer from the committee that drafted the previous constitution.