Syrian Foreign Minister: Election to Be Held on Time

The Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Faisal Al-Miqdad affirmed that the presidential elections will not be postponed.

Al-Miqdad confirmed that “the presidential elections will take place as scheduled in mid-2021 next year.”

These statements came from Moscow, where Al-Miqdad travelled a few days ago, on an official visit which is his first since he assumed the position of Foreign Minister, succeeding Walid Al-Muallem, to appease the Russian ally.

Al-Miqdad said: “If the Constitutional Committee fails to reach an agreement, work will be conducted based on the current constitution that was issued in 2012, and there will be no change to the election date until a new constitution is drawn up,” stressing that this is something that the delegations of the Constitutional Committee know.

The foreign minister repeated his previous hints that question the value of the talks held in Geneva, considering that those talks should be led by Syria.

He added that "Groups that call themselves opposition will remain under the guidance of foreign countries to influence the Syrian constitution, and this will not lead to a unified constitution approved by Syria."

During the past months, the sessions of the Constitutional Committee witnessed a state of apparent disruption, as a result of the Syrian government's insistence on discussing unnecessary details that undermined the opportunities for progress and made those talks standstill.

Many observers described such acts as an attempt to buy time in order to pass the next presidential elections to the Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad for seven additional years in ruling the country.