On de Mistura’s Plan

Press release "Original in Arabic"

Syrian Coalition

Political Committee

August 22, 2015

The political committee received the team of the UN envoy to Syrian Mr. Staffan de Mistura. The team explained the course of the implementation of the points contained in the report de Mistura presented to the UN Security Council on July 29, and also explained the presidential statement issued by the UN Security Council on August 17. Many questions and inquiries were raised during the meeting, but the answers fell short of dispelling our concerns about many of the outstanding issues.

The political committee has reservation about Mr. de Mistura’s plan, summarized in the following points:

First, it is clear that the proposed course of action will take a long time, so it cannot be adopted in light of the bloodshed and destruction caused by the Assad regime. He will benefit from this time to float itself and consolidate its gains on the ground, as was the case in the previous experiences.

Second, the draft of the plan lets go of the objective of the Geneva I communique and the UN Security Council resolution 2118 which calls for the formation of a transitional governing body with full powers that is supposed to expedite the adoption of an executive plan for the Geneva I communique and to unify the teams that will complete all the details.

The international community continues to evade facing the core of the problem, namely how to achieve a radical and comprehensive political transition without the presence of Bashar al-Assad and his inner circle in the transitional period and beyond.

Third, while there are no longer any doubts about the legitimacy of the forces that represent the revolution and the opposition, there have been attempts to distort the will of the Syrian people through selectivity in choosing its representatives, like what happened during the consultation meetings in Geneva in May. Indeed, a political process cannot be successful unless it demonstrates integrity, impartiality and credibility with regard to the issue of representation of the Syrian people and stays away from any outside dictations or pre-fabricated outcomes.

The majority of documents laid out by forces of the revolution and the opposition agree on a unified vision for a political solution and on the need to achieve a radical and comprehensive political transition that shuts the door in front of the continuity of or the return to tyranny.

The Syrian Coalition’s political committee maintains contact with the United Nations to clarify the outstanding issues. It will adhere to the letter and spirit of the decisions approved by the Syrian Coalition’s General Assembly as they reflect the aspirations of the various components of the Syrian people. Moreover, the political committee will refer the results of its meetings and its assessment of the political situation to the General Assembly’s upcoming meeting in order to approve future decisions.

And while it reaffirms its adherence to the United Nations’ role in bringing about a political solution in Syria, it emphasizes the need for this international organization to play its natural role in bringing war criminals and perpetrators of crimes against humanity to account.