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Bashar Ja'afari,
speaking to Lebanese TV station al Mayadeen, also said his team
was pushing for an expanded government as the solution to the
war - an idea rejected by the opposition fighting for five years
to topple Assad.
Ja'afari was reiterating the Syrian government's position as
spelt out last month ahead of the latest round of talks,
indicating no shift on the part of Damascus as it continues to
enjoy firm military backing from Russia and Iran.
"In Geneva we have one mandate only to arrive at an expanded
national government only, this is our mandate ... this is the
goal we strive to achieve in the Geneva peace talks," Ja'afari
said in comments broadcast overnight. He added that these views
were relayed to U.N. Syria mediator Staffan de Mistura.
Ja'afari also said Assad's fate could never be raised in peace
talks nor was it a matter that any U.N.-backed political process
could deliberate.
"This matter (the presidency) does not fall under the
jurisdiction of Geneva ... this is a Syrian-Syrian affair,
Security Council or no Security Council," he said.
The Western-backed Syrian mainstream opposition decided on
Monday to take a pause in peace talks. It said Damascus was not
serious about moving towards a U.N.-backed political process
they say would bring a transitional governing body with full
executive powers without Assad.
A U.N. Security Council resolution in December called for the
establishment of "credible, inclusive and non-sectarian
governance", a new constitution, and free and fair elections
within 18 months.
Ja'afari also said any ideas such as those floated recently by
de Mistura that sought to bridge the gap between the two sides
should not touch existing state institutions or the army.
"We won't allow any constitutional vacuum to take place. What
does that mean? It means the army stays as it is and state
institutions continue to function," he added.
The opposition says restructuring the army and security
apparatus is an essential step towards establishing a democratic
Syria.
Ja'afari accused the Western-backed opposition of seeking to
bring about a collapse of the country and replicate the chaos
seen in Iraq and Libya after Western military intervention
brought down long severing authoritarian rulers.
"They want to repeat the experience of Libya and Iraq ... and
turn Syria into a failed state," he said.
(Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Tom Perry and Tom
Heneghan)
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