GENEVA Munther Makhous, veteran opposition figure and a member of the delegation of the High Committee for the ongoing Geneva talks confirmed to Zaman al-Wasl that a group of people from the High Committee for Negotiations and the Cairo and Moscow bodies and the revolutionary forces are now being chosen to agree on constitutional principles, which will serve as a framework for the next stage.
Makhous insisted the Syrian people had the right to approve its constitution without any external interference, and that no order could be imposed on the will of the free Syrian people.
Makhous indicated that the real name for the negotiations delegate should be the revolution delegate and not the opposition delegate, "the opposition is named in accordance with the European democratic systems where there are governments and real opposition, not with a criminal regime such as Bashar regime," he said, referring to a note of a member from the political bodes of the revolutionary forces. The Syrian case is a cause of people who revolted to demand freedom and dignity and civil state against a tyrant criminal regime that does not allow or recognize a real opposition during its history.
"There is no alternative to Bashar al-Assad's departure," Makhous added. "All negotiators agree on this point which is one of the constants of the Higher Committee that cannot be compromised."
-Astana not the alternative-
Commenting on the negotiations held in Astana under the auspices of the Russian, Turkish and Iranian guarantors, he said, "The vast majority of the representatives of the factions negotiating with in Astana did not accept any violation of the principles of the revolution. The talks were confined to a cease-fire and the approval of its cease- The regime did not abide by what was agreed upon in Astana. The guarantors did not fulfill their commitments to prevent the Assad regime from breaching the cease-fire, or to compel it to release of the detainees, or to stop the forcible displacement of our brothers in Damascus countryside or al-Waer neighborhood in Homs.
He added, "the Russians and the Iranians and the Assad regime sought to be an alternative to Geneva, which is unacceptable to us as a delegation negotiating for the revolution. It is also not accepted by De Mistura because it is not of his interest, and the regime wants Astana to be an alternative so process of political transition will stop and the negotiations would be limited to a cease-fire and the issue of bringing aid to the besieged areas, to impose peace on them, or force them to leave in implementation of a demographic change that helps the regime to stay in power. "
-Call to demonstrate-
On the other hand, Dr. Munther told Zaman al-Wasl, "negotiations must be ongoing and non-stop, until a solution that meets the requirements of the Syrian people for freedom and dignity is reached, and not just something limited to four days as planned so as not to prolong the suffering of the Syrians."
He stressed the need to support the revolutionary delegation negotiating by the masses of the Syrian revolution at home and abroad, organizing demonstrations and sit-ins raising banners in the streets and all available places to stress the political objectives of the revolution, and reject the displacement and division and external hegemony, and insists on the exit of the Iranian militias and elements of Hezbollah and all terrorist forces that are fighting alongside Assad from Syria, rejecting the survival of Assad or the killers in power, the need to prosecute the criminals against the Syrian people and refer them to the international criminal courts, and hold them accountable in all legal forms available, and demand a free and independent Syrian state.
-No Scenarios-
Munther called on the Syrian people not to believe the scenarios promoted by the media through all means, including the means of social communication, explaining that these proposals have been promoting for more than two years about specific people, some of them loyal to Assad who did not pollute their hands with blood. The tumors that an Alawi figure will be nominated is false, too.
He stressed that the Americans, according to the statement of the US ambassador did not agree side by side with the Russians and no one was agreed upon.
He pointed out that there is no one who meets the aspirations of the revolution individually, in light of the complexity of the Syrian situation, and the presence of more than 100 factions on the ground, and it requires an institution capable and ready to lead and manage the next phase.
He pointed out that the upcoming meeting of US President Trump with the Saudi monarch and some leaders of Islamic countries may be a turning point in the history of the Syrian revolution
