Mohammed Al Ghabra, one of the senior Syrian members of the Next Century Foundation, has drawn this curious announcement to our attention:

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov announced that holding early elections in Syria is a possible option if the government and the opposition there succeed in coordinating and carrying out constitutional reform.

“If the Syrian parties reach an agreement and the results of their work will be confirmed, it is possible to hold elections according to the new constitution or constitutional reform, and it may happen,” Bogdanov (who is the special envoy of the Russian President to the Middle East and African countries) told reporters on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. This is early and not after seven years, according to the requirements of the current constitution, but this matter requires consensus among the Syrians.

The prominent Russian diplomat confirmed that there are plans to hold a new meeting in the “Astana” format in the capital of Kazakhstan, the city of Nur-Sultan, until the end of this June, pointing out that Moscow will conduct contacts with Turkey and Iran next week in this regard.

Bogdanov also expressed Moscow’s hope that the UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen will be able to organize a new meeting of the Syrian Constitutional Committee in the near future, noting that an idea was originally proposed to hold this meeting before the recent presidential elections in Syria.

Source: “Novosti” today