New round of talks on Syria’s constitution begins

GENEVA — Delegations from Syria’s government, opposition and civil society began a new round of meetings in Geneva on Monday aimed at revising the constitution of the war-torn nation.

The fifth round of the so-called constitutional Committee came days after U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen told the U.N. Security Council that many subjects have been discussed for more than a year, and it’s now time for the committee to ensure that “the meetings are better organized and more focused.”

Syria’s nearly 10-year conflict has killed more than half a million people and displaced half the country's pre-war 23 million population, including more than 5 million refugees mostly in neighbouring countries.

“We need to ensure that the committee begins to move from preparing a constitutional reform to drafting one, as it is mandated to do,” Pedersen said last week.

Western allies have accused Syria’s President Bashar Assad of delaying the drafting of a new constitution to waste time until presidential elections are held this year and avoid U.N.-supervised voting as called for by the Security Council.

Presidential elections are scheduled to take place between April 16 and May 16, at least 90 days before Assad’s seven-year term expires.