Head of Moscow Platform Comments on Lavrentiev’s statements about the Syrian Constitutional Committee

“After reviewing Mr. Lavrentiev’s recent statement to TASS on the role of the Syrian opposition in the Constitutional Committee:

• Although we, in the [Moscow] Platform, are affected by the behavior of the ruling party in the opposition (the Coalition [Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces]), especially since our representative was removed from the Constitutional Committee after its first round because of our proposal to transfer the Committee's work to Damascus;

• And despite it is quite clear to us the disruptive role of the ruling party in the negotiating body since the first day of its establishment, especially in formulating the final statement of the Riyadh Conference.

• And despite of the fact that we are aware of the obstructing role of this party to the political process with its extreme positions toward the regime, which has always watered to the regime’s mill itself during the recent period until the sixth round [of the Constitutional Committee]…

• At the same time, we are aware of the importance of the Russian position in stopping the expansion of terrorism and in preventing the West from monopolizing our country as it did in Iraq and Libya, and we are aware of the Russian role in the adoption of UNSCR 2254 and its subsequent activity to implement it;

However, for the sake of truth and history, we bear witness that the positions and behavior of the regime’s delegation are the ones which made the sixth round thwarted, and therefore we are surprised and regretted by Mr. Lavrentiev’s statements that are untrue, favorable to the regime, and not objective in their presentation of the reality of matters.”

Jamil concluded his series of tweets by saying, “We believe that (your real friend is that who is honest and frank with you not who uncritically believes you) [famous Arab proverb], and he in such positions encourages the extremist parties in the regime and lays the foundation and justifications for thwarting the seventh round [of the Syrian Constitutional Committee] - that Mr. Geir Pedersen announced his intention to hold soon - and therefore bears responsibility for any negative results of the work of the Constitutional Committee, in a time when the Syrian people are awaiting more than willing to make progress in the Committee’s works and in the political solution in general, to alleviate the suffering they are experiencing.”

The Russian TASS news agency had quoted the Russian presidential envoy to Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, saying today that “the Syrian opposition often makes unacceptable demands, which hinders achieving consensus in the work of the Constitutional Committee in Geneva,” adding that “the opposition often puts forward preconditions and demands.” And that “this is done in a way, sometimes provocative, so that it forces the pro-government side to take a somewhat hard stance,” according to Lavrentiev who made these remarks after meetings of the Astana Formula (for the Settlement in Syria) in its seventeenth round, which started this morning in Nur-Sultan, the capital of Kazakhstan, which It will take two days, with the participation of the delegations of Iran, Russia and Turkey, in addition to the delegations of the Syrian government, the Syrian armed opposition and the United Nations.

Source: Kassioun

(Arabic version)

(Russian version)