DAMASCUS — A top Syrian official urged the opposition to let go of its dream of easing President Bashar Assad out of power in a transitional government, complicating peace talks that resumed Wednesday in Geneva on ending the five-year civil war.
As Syrians voted in parliamentary elections in government-held parts of the country — balloting the opposition dismissed as a sham — Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said that a transitional government amounts to a coup d’etat and “will never be accepted.’’
A transitional government is the centerpiece of the peace program that the United States, Russia, and other world powers agreed on at a 2012 Geneva Conference. The terms have been left vague intentionally and are supposed to be worked out in the peace talks, but the presumption, at least in the opposition’s mind, is that a transitional government means one without Assad.
“This will not happen, not now, nor tomorrow nor ever,’’ Mekdad said, speaking at his office in Damascus ahead of the resumption of the indirect talks in Geneva that the UN envoy says will focus on a political transition.
Assad recently floated the idea of a national unity government, rejecting the opposition’s demand for a transitional ruling body, and Mekdad echoed the rejection.
“We believe such an idea has failed, it is outdated, it will never be acceptable. This amounts, in fact, to a coup d’etat. People organize a certain rebellion and then they get power. This will never happen in Syria,’’ he said.
He said most of the world except Saudi Arabia and Turkey — the two top backers of the rebellion — have all but relinquished calls for Assad to step down, having realized after five years of war that the president is fighting “terrorists’’ in Syria.
“We believe that if we have to proceed, then we need to forget or we need others to forget the dreams they had for the last five years and to come with factual, actual solutions to the problem,’’ he said. “This includes the possibility of establishing a national unity government or a broad government that includes members of the opposition.’’
But in Geneva, UN envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura told reporters that his recent visits to Iran, Russia, and Syria led him to believe that those countries were “supportive to what we are trying to do in terms of a political transition.’’
“There was no doubt on that. From Moscow to Tehran, even to Damascus, [they] agreed with the fact that this is the agenda,’’ he said.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said he spoke to de Mistura about the talks and urged all participants “to adhere to the cessation of hostilities.’’
“There is an opportunity in these days ahead to be able to negotiate transition according to Geneva Communique of 2012, which is precisely what they say they want,’’ Kerry told reporters in Washington. “The Iranians have signed up to it; the Russians have signed up to it. The Turks, the Qataris, the Saudis, the Emiratis, most of the European countries, all of the countries that are part of the International Syrian Support Group.’’
Aided by Russian air power, the Syrian army and allied militiamen have reversed the tide of the war in recent months, making rapid advances against its opponents. Syria also has benefited from a US- and Russian-engineered partial cease-fire, which has allowed it to focus on fighting extremists like the Islamic State group and the Nusra Front, which are excluded from the truce agreement.
The new 250-member parliament being chosen Wednesday is expected to serve as a rubber stamp for Assad. Western leaders and members of Syria’s opposition have denounced the election as illegitimate and a provocation that undermines the peace talks.
After casting his vote with his wife, Asma, Assad said the election was one way to defy the terrorists — the term he uses to describe Syria’s armed opposition.
Parliamentary elections in Syria are held every four years, and Damascus says the vote is constitutional and separate from the Geneva talks. But the opposition says the voting contributes to an unfavorable climate for negotiations.
