Syria civil war: UN calls for elections in 18 months
UN envoy de Mistura says vote should be held by September 2017 as opposition says it will attend March 14 peace talks.
The UN envoy for Syria has renewed a call for elections in the war-torn country, proposing that a vote should be held in 18 months’ time.
Staffan de Mistura’s call on Friday for elections in September 2017 came ahead of the fifth anniversary of the conflict on Monday, which is also when a fresh round of peace talks in Geneva are scheduled to begin.
“New elections … should be held 18 months from the start of talks, that is from March 14,” de Mistura told Russia’s RIA Novosti state news agency, in comments translated into Russian.
World leaders have called for elections for some time, with the last major plea made in November during a round of peace talks in Vienna.
Elsewhere, de Mistura said that the possibility of federalism had not been taken off the table for the upcoming talks, which the main Syrian opposition bloc – the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) – confirmed on Friday it will attend.
Any mention of this federalism or something which might present a direction for dividing Syria is not acceptable at all.
“All Syrians have rejected the division [of Syria] and federalism can be discussed at the negotiations,” de Mistura told Al Jazeera.
He also said that the prospects for reaching a deal to end the war were better than at any time before.
Diplomats had told the Reuters news agency that major powers close to the UN-brokered talks were discussing the possibility of federal division in Syria that would grant broad autonomy to regional authorities, while maintaining the country’s unity as a single state.
A UN Security Council diplomat told Reuters that a number of major Western powers had been considering the possibility of a federal structure for Syria and had passed on suggestions to de Mistura.
Speaking in September, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad did not rule out the idea of federalism, but said any such change should only come about as a result of dialogue among Syrians and a referendum to ratify any changes to the constitution.
“From our side, when the Syrian people are ready to move in a certain direction, we will naturally agree to this,” he said at the time.
After five years of war that has killed 250,000 people and driven about 11 million from their homes, Syria’s territory is already divided between various parties, including the government and its allies, Western-backed Kurds, opposition groups and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS).
However, Syrian opposition coordinator Riad Hijab of the HNC said that “any mention of federalism or something which might present a direction for dividing Syria is not acceptable at all”.
“We have agreed we will expand a non-central government in a future Syria, but not any kind of federalism or division,” Hijab said.
In contrast, the co-leader of the Syrian Kurdish PYD party, which has wide influence over Kurdish parts of the country, has made it clear that the PYD is open to the idea.
“What you call it isn’t important,” the PYD’s Saleh Muslim told Reuters on Tuesday. “We have said over and over again that we want a decentralised Syria – call it administrations, call it federalism – everything is possible.”
Ceasfire slows fighting
Fighting in Syria has slowed considerably since a fragile “cessation of hostilities agreement” brokered by the US and Russia came into force almost two weeks ago. But an actual peace deal and proper ceasefire remain elusive.
The biggest sticking point in the peace talks remains the fate of Assad, who Western and Gulf Arab governments say must go at the end of a transition period envisioned under a roadmap hammered out in Vienna last year by major powers.
READ MORE: At least 135 killed in first week of truce in Syria
Assad’s backers Russia and Iran say Syrians themselves must decide on his fate.
The next round of Syria peace talks is not expected to run beyond March 24. After that round ends, there is expected to be a break of a week or 10 days before they resume.