New round of Syrian peace talks crucial, says UN envoy

UN mediator Staffan de Mistura has called the new round of Syrian peace talks opening in Geneva on Wednesday crucial and said delegations would focus on political transition, governance and constitutional principles. He also expressed hope that this round, the third this year, would be “constructive” and “concrete”.

The Saudi-supported opposition Higher Negotiations Committee (HNC) has submitted proposals on all three topics to de Mistura, while the Syrian government has put forward "principles" on which a deal could be founded.

These UN-brokered “proximity talks” began in late January, were suspended on the brink of collapse after three days and then resumed for 10 days in March. A fragile ceasefire has been in place since February 27th.

In a background briefing, a Syrian source who has access to both sides as well as Washington and Moscow told The Irish Times the HNC had plans for transitioning from the rule of President Bashar al-Assad, but had "no strategy" to promote their adoption.

The government, he said, had a strategy and able negotiators but no plans for a post-Assad regime. Having survived five years of warfare, the government was not ready to transform the system of governance. Its aim was to perpetuate Assad’s rule by forming a “national unity cabinet” including figures from the opposition, independents, and civil society, amending the constitution, and holding fresh elections in which Assad could run.

“They have agreed that Assad will go but not when. And they have agreed that 70 per cent of the regime will remain,” the source said.

Unlike the principal negotiators, the Women’s Advisory Board has both a plan and a strategy, says civil society activist and researcher Sawsan Zakzak, one of 12 board members. “There have been no negotiations so far,” she states. “The peace talks stage has not yet been reached. We have only the ceasefire.

“The ceasefire is not perfect but it sends a good message to the people that we can stop the war. I am optimistic we can reach an agreement on a new government.

“People need more than a ceasefire. We have to finish with sieges, detentions and kidnappings. We need to [deal with] high prices [due to the fall in the value of the Syrian pound]. We need to start a political transition process, not a transition period. The choice of words is very important.”

Six of the women's board members still live in Syria, five left since the war began and one is a permanent resident of Britain. None is associated with the government or the HNC. The board, formed in January, has presented proposals to de Mistura and called for the creation of committees to deal with different aspects of the transition in order to avoid deadlock.

Zakzak says the board’s current role is “to advise de Mistura and discover points of agreement between the sides. We are more than mediators because we are Syrians and we know the concerns and fears of both sides [and] discover issues [on which] both sides agree.”

It is essential to make these negotiations successful. [To do so] we have to change the behaviour of [both] the regime and the opposition,” she says.

Ultimately, board members seek to become a full partner in the talks. "De Mistura wants to bring in [representatives from] all Syrians," Zakzak states, including the Kurds who have been excluded due to rejection to their participation by Turkey.

"We are very happy now that many parties, including the US and Europe, speak about a secular constitution and secular law," states Zakzak. You cannot guarantee the equality of women without secular law. Now in Syria we have five personal status laws: all discriminate against women in marriage, divorce, and inheritance."

She is optimistic: "We have learned lessons from Iraq, Egypt, and Libya. And we have learned from Lebanon. " By this she means Syrians are well aware of the dangers of sectarianism and fundamentalism. The Lebanese and Iraqi models of governments based on sectarian power-sharing are not options for Syrians, she argues.

“We have to have a national [post-war] strategy from the beginning” to prevent alienated and unemployed youth from being radicalised in mosques and to recruit armed men into national defence.

Instead of accepting Washington and Moscow will decide Syria's future, Zakzak insists, "Syrians will decide with the approval of Russia and the US."