Participants at Syria’s National Dialogue Congress in Sochi have agreed to set up a Constitutional Commission and to give it in hands of UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and de Mistura agreed to establish a constitution commission composed of delegates elected at the forum and representatives who didn’t attend the talks, according to Sputnik.

“This new structure — the constitutional committee for the preparation of the Syrian constitution — will operate in Geneva,” Lavrov said, following the meeting.

The minister added, “The Congress approved the statement on the foundations and principles of the future national-state structure in Syria. These principles are not revolutionary, these are the key norms of international law — respecting the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence of Syria, ensuring the rights of all ethnic and confessional groups, ensuring the political process that will leave no one behind, and which will allow the Syrians themselves to determine their own destiny, without any outside interference.”

The committee will include those groups that were not attending the peace conference hold in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi, Lavrov said, according to TASS.

According to him, “this result – the creation of a constitutional commission – is transferred to the UN in accordance with resolution 2254”.

The Congress of the National Dialogue of Syria in Sochi officially opened on Tuesday, among more than 1.5 thousand participants – representatives of all political and ethno-confessional groups of Syria. The key task of the Congress is to launch work on a new constitution of Syria and form a constitutional commission.

Source: Agencies