HNC Opposition Says Transitional Gov’t Should Wield Full Power in Syria

The Riyadh-formed Syrian opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) views the country’s new government not as an entity where power is simply shared among various political forces, but as a governing structure granted full control over the state, an HNC spokeswoman told Sputnik Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Anastasia Levchenko – Earlier in the day, Syrian President Bashar Assad told Sputnik that a national unity government should comprise various political forces, in particular those loyal to Damascus, opposition and independent ones.

"It is not about sharing power or making space for some opposition groups and some independents alongside the government. This is about a new governing structure, a transitional body that has full powers in hands," Bassma Kodmani stressed.

If that is the definition that the government accepts, then it is possible to move into "real" negotiation in Geneva, she added.

The format of the new Syrian government should be agreed upon during the Geneva talks, while the transitional period in the Arab republic must occur under the current constitution, Assad said in an interview with Sputnik earlier on Wednesday.

The latest round of talks between the Syrian government and opposition forces opened on March 14 in Switzerland and lasted for 10 days. The new round of negotiations on the Syrian future is planned for April 11, but the exact date has not been set yet.