The Syrian Coalition’s political committee has approved a draft document containing “the basic principles for a political settlement in Syria.” The 13-item document lays out a road map for a political solution in Syria and the parameters to resume the negotiation process that stalled in the Geneva II conference. The document was written to restart negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations from the point at which they stopped during the Geneva II Conference in February 2014 and in accordance with the relevant Security Council resolutions. The document also states that the goal of the negotiations is to implement the Geneva I communique, starting from the formation of a transitional governing body with full executive powers. This will allow the President of the Republic to bring about radical and comprehensive change to the political system including removing the head of the regime and its symbols and his security forces, and the establishing a pluralistic civil system.

Moreover, the document details the functions and responsibilities of the transitional governing body down to the drafting of the constitution, the holding of elections and reforming state institutions. The document states that halting the bombing of civilians is a prerequisite for the resumption of the negotiation process.

Related to this, President Khaled Khoja and Political Committee Member Khatib Badla, met with Mona Ghanem, Building the Syrian State Movement Envoy today in Istanbul and laid out a specific framework for conducting comprehensive intra-opposition dialogue.

The Syrian Coalition delegation will be headed by Hisham Marwa – VP, Salah Darwish – Political Committee Member, Qasim al-Khatib – General Assembly Member, for the meeting with the National Coordination Commission in Cairo. The meeting comes as part of the Syria/Syrian dialogue initiated by the Syrian Coalition with other opposition blocs and figures. The draft document of “the basic principles for a political settlement in Syria” will be the focus of discussions between the two sides during the upcoming meetings. The meetings will also discuss the memorandum of understanding drawn out in the past few days.

Vice President Hisham Marwa said that the Syrian Coalition’s delegation may meet with officials at the Egyptian Foreign Ministry to discuss the efforts to hold a consultative meeting between the Syrian opposition blocs to unite their positions in a way that serves the revolution. (Source: Syrian Coalition)