PARIS, March 4. /TASS/. France insists on accelerating the political transition process in Syria but is opposed to the idea of holding parliamentary elections, French President Francois Hollande said on Friday following telephone talks with the participation of the German chancellor, the prime ministers of the UK and Italy and the Russian president.
"Our common goal is to use the truce to promote the political transition process," Hollande said. According to him, it is necessary to use the lull to "bring the parties involved in the conflict to the negotiating table," including in Geneva. "We are talking about preparing Syria’s future," Hollande said.
However, the French leader spoke out against the idea of holding the parliamentary elections in Syria announced by President Bashar al-Assad in spring. "The mere idea of these elections is provocative. This is absolutely unrealistic," Hollande said.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad earlier said the parliamentary elections in Syria would be held on April 13. He announced this in Damascus immediately after the news of the Syrian ceasefire agreement. If the elections take place, they will be the second since the beginning of the armed conflict in the country. The previous elections held in 2012 were organized on the basis of the multi-party system. Syria’s Constitution provides for holding general elections every 4 years.