BEIRUT, LEBANON (2:40 P.M.) – Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said that calls by some countries not to recognize the presidential elections scheduled for this year in Syria undermine the stable performance of official institutions in this country.
Vershinin said, in an interview with RIA Novosti: “Despite the negative factors and restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus, work continues in Geneva, the Constitutional Committee for Syria. The fifth round of consultations between the Syrian parties is scheduled to take place from 25 to 29 January, during which time, the constitutional principles will be discussed, and solutions acceptable to both sides will have to be seriously searched for.”
The deputy minister stessed, “In the meantime, statements appear in some international forums about the urgent adoption of a new constitution and the failure to recognize the upcoming presidential elections in Syria. In practice, this means depriving the Syrians of the right to elect their leadership, and at the same time undermining the stability of the work of the Syrian state institutions.”
The Deputy Minister pointed out that UN Security Council Resolution 2254 and the Constitutional Committee’s work rules “directly impose the need to advance the political process, led and implemented by the Syrians themselves, without external interference and without imposing artificial timeframes.”
The Russian diplomat concluded, “It is on this basis that a long-term political settlement in Syria can be reached.”
According to the current Syrian constitution, presidential elections are scheduled to be held in 2021.
Earlier, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview with RIA Novosti agency, that he might make at the beginning of this year his decision to participate in the presidential elections.
1 - 1Share
