The UN voiced hope Monday (October 28th) that a meeting this week of a committee tasked with amending Syria's constitution can open the door to a broader political process, AFP reported.
"I do believe that the Constitutional Committee's launch should be a sign of hope for the long-suffering Syrian people," UN envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen said ahead of the committee's first meeting on Wednesday.
The UN last month announced the formation of the 150-member committee, representing the Syrian regime, opposition and Syrian civil society.
Pedersen pointed out that the establishment of the committee "marks the first political agreement between the government of Syria and the opposition".
The UN envoy said he enjoyed the "full support and backing on this from a united international community".
"It could be a door-opener to a broader political process," Pedersen said.
Once all 150 meet for a two-day opening ceremony in Geneva starting Wednesday, 45 of them will begin work drafting the document itself.
Pedersen said the aim would be to reach consensus on all issues, and where that is not possible, changes would only be made with a 75% majority vote in the committee to avoid having any one side "dictate" the process.
Pedersen said there was no deadline, but stressed that the parties had agreed "to work expeditiously and continuously".
He insisted that the committee's work needed to "be accompanied by other concrete steps and confidence-building measures, among the Syrians themselves and among Syria and the international community".
