BICOM

The official Syrian opposition group, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), has published a plan for a new Syrian constitution.

The plan includes steps to be taken ahead of an election and guidelines for a new parliament and government after the civil war. The HNC have proposed that a committee be established to draft Syria’s post-war constitution before the end of the year, “paving the way for free and fair elections” in the war-torn country. The committee should “reflect the composition of the country” and all “arrangements/rules/law aiming at dissolving/obstructing/impeding the political activities of the opposition” must be scrapped. The HNC also called for a “general amnesty” and the “abolition of all laws, legislation and procedures aimed at prosecuting and punishing the participants of the events in Syria” since 2011, as well as the safe and voluntary return of refugees.

A rival UN plan for a committee to write the constitution was rejected last week after Damascus refused any UN role in the selection process.

The leaders of Turkey, Russia, France and Germany on Saturday called for “an inclusive, Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process” to end the seven-year civil war, as well as creating the conditions needed for the safe and voluntary return of Syrian refugees.

Speaking at a joint news conference in Istanbul, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: “The people of Syria will determine the future of President Bashar al-Assad. As far as we are concerned, Assad is someone who has killed nearly one million of his citizens. He is not someone who we hold in high esteem. Massacres continue as before, but it is our wish that this process comes to an end and the people of Syria can begin to live their lives again.”

President Vladimir Putin said the 15-20km demilitarisation zone in Idlib, established as part of the de-escalation agreement between Russia and Turkey, is “a temporary measure”. He added that he hoped “the Turkish government will ensure, in the near future, the complete withdrawal of the [armed] opposition from the zone and heavy artillery”.