Speaking to Al-Hurra on Wednesday, the President of the Libyan House of Representatives (HoR) Ageela Saleh said that there were no issues between him and the General Commander of the Libyan National Army, Khalifa Haftar.
The HoR President specified that his recent political proposal did not contradict recent statements made by Haftar. Saleh said that the initiative he put forward aims to provide a political solution to the Libyan crisis that is based on social customs and historical norms in Libya.
He noted that post-independence Libya saw the formation of a Senate and a Constitutional Committee, with twenty representatives from each of Libya’s three historical regions of Tripolitania, Barqa and Fezzan.
Similarly to Haftar, Saleh also rejects the Libyan Political Agreement. He claims that his initiative is Libyan-based and would not need to be internationally enforced. Stressing this point, the HoR President argued that “the [Libyan] people [have] the highest authority and must be referred to in the decision making process.”
Saleh added that a summit would be organised to host specialists, opinion-makers and intellectuals from across Libya in order to agree upon the appropriate mechanisms to implement this initiative.
The HoR President also specified that each of Libya’s three regions would choose – under the supervision of the United Nations – representatives for a new Presidential Council. After the formation of this Council, a committee of experts and intellectuals would be formed to draft a constitution and schedule Presidential and Parliamentary elections.
According to Saleh, the HoR would continue to act as the legislative authority in the country until new parliamentary elections take place.
“The Head of the Presidential Council will be chosen from one of the Libyan regions, while the Prime Minister will be chosen from one of the other two regions. In addition to that, the President and Vice-Presidents of the Presidential Council are not entitled to run for office in the first elections”, Saleh said.