• Within two weeks it is supposed that there must be a round of new talks about the political solution in Syria that includes the government and the opposition under UN auspices.
• The Syrian government feels comfortable for this round more than any previous round, while the opposition feels confused and worried more than any previous time.
• The government is represented by a delegation that has the legitimacy of the UN recognition and there is no debate about the credibility of its representation, while the opposition faces from now the confusion of representing a delegation that has the satisfaction of the concerned parties.
• If the opposition sends its previous delegation to Geneva or to Astana the question will remain what about the Kurds and what about Cairo’s platform or Moscow’s platform, it will be difficult to gather them without losing its negotiating power due to the inequality of ceilings.
• If the delegation expands, it will be divided in the negotiations about the new political ceiling under the title ‘government, constitution, and elections’ as De Mistura said, and if it does not expand and the United Nations form an expanded delegation and boycott the formation of Riyadh, it will be isolated, because it will no longer have the military powerful cards, since what is left for it is besieged by Al Nusra front, while in Al-Bab city the Syrian army is proceeding while the opposition  is unable to confront ISIS.
• The official Syrian delegation is comfortable in formation and content, the final word is in the field.

Translated by Lina Shehadeh,

2017-02-06 | عدد القراءات 2215