Gabriel Moushe: The Syrian regime has been obstructing the political solution since 2012

Welat TV – Erbil

Member of the Constitutional Committee of the Syrian Negotiating Commission, Gabriel Moushe, confirmed that the Syrian regime is the main reason for obstructing all international efforts and endeavors to find a solution to the Syrian crisis.

In his interview with "Welat TV" on Saturday, November 16, 2024, Moshe indicated that "the regime in many previous rounds, as in Geneva, was evading the requirements of the political solution to non-essential issues."

Moushe stated that "With Russia standing by its side and the absence of international pressure on it, the regime remains as it is." After the Russian envoy to Syria announced the proposal of 4 countries (the Sultanate of Oman, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Egypt) to host the meetings of the Constitutional Committee, in reference to the rejection of the proposal presented by the Constitutional Committee regarding choosing the city of Geneva in Switzerland on the pretext that Switzerland is no longer a neutral party after the Ukraine war.

He added: "As for the Constitutional Committee and its reference represented by the Negotiating Body, we always prefer that the location of the Constitutional Committee meetings remain in Geneva, where the headquarters of the United Nations is located, which sponsors the political process in Syria in order to implement international resolution 2254. He also added that when other proposals were presented, the Negotiating Body refused to hold the meeting in Iraq, and proposed alternatives to it, represented by Riyadh, considering that the headquarters of the Negotiating Body is still in the city of Riyadh.

Moushe indicated that she proposed that the meeting be held at the Arab League in Cairo, but the Syrian regime rejected these proposals and insisted on the issue of Iraq, which is rejected by us, and the reason for our refusal at that time is that Iraq is not a neutral country, in light of the Iranian dominance over power and political decision-making in Iraq. Therefore, we still insist and emphasize the priority of holding the meeting in Geneva under the auspices of the United Nations, although we are open to holding the meeting in Riyadh or Cairo and do not reject that." With the suspension of the Constitutional Committee meetings, Moshe noted that the one obstructing these meetings is the Syrian regime in the first place, because it does not want a political process and has been evading all the requirements of the political solution since 2012, stressing that what helped it escape this requirement is the Russian Federation.

Moushe confirmed that Russia refused to hold meetings in Geneva on the pretext that Switzerland is no longer a neutral country following the Ukraine war in February 2022, and this is the reason for the suspension of the Constitutional Committee meetings. He finally said: "Even when rounds were held in Geneva, the regime was evading non-essential issues regarding reaching a new formulation of a Syrian constitution that expresses all components, and therefore this regime remains as it is, and there is no international pressure on it to proceed and move forward with the political process sponsored by the United Nations."