Al-Moallem to de Mistura: Constitution is sovereign affair decided by the Syrian people

Damascus, SANA – Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign and Expatriates Minister Walid al-Moallem on Wednesday received UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura and the accompanying delegation. Talks during the meeting touched on efforts for achieving progress in the political track regarding the crisis in Syria. The two sides also followed up on the concepts related to the political process and the committee for discussing the current constitution, which were discussed during the meeting between al-Moallem and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the sideline of the UN General Assembly meetings. Al-Moallem affirmed that Syria continues to support efforts for reaching a political solution for the crisis, noting that Syria has dealt positively with the output of the intra-Syrian national dialogue conference in Sochi and the formation of a committee to discuss the constitution. He said that the work of the aforementioned committee must adhere to the UN Charter, international law, and UN resolutions on Syria in terms of commitment to Syria’s sovereignty, independence, and unity, and in affirming that the Syrian people are the only ones who get to decide Syria’s future, therefore this process must be led and owned by Syria. The constitution and everything related to it is a purely sovereign affair decided by the Syrian people without foreign interference, al-Moallem said, noting that some sides and states seek are seeking to interfere and impose their will on the Syrian people. For his part, de Mistura reviewed the meetings and activities he carried out recently to revitalize the political process and form the committee for discussing the constitution. He said that during his years as Special Envoy, he did his best to reach a political solution under complicated circumstances. The two sides agreed to remain in touch in order to discuss ideas for pushing the political process forward.