On Monday, Libyan Parliament Speaker, Ageela Saleh followed up the work of the committee tasked with reviewing the articles and points of contention in the draft constitution.
Saleh met with the Head of the Parliament’s National Committee for Justice and Reconciliation, Abdel-Hadi Al-Saghir. This is to review the latest achievements regarding the amendment of the draft constitution.
The draft constitution was submitted by the Constituent Assembly for the Drafting of the Constitution, in accordance with the twelfth constitutional amendment approved by the Parliament.
On Friday, the parliament said that it had formed a committee to hold talks with the rival High Council of State (HCS). This aims to end the current blockage in the political track. The committee includes 12 MP’s to review the points of contention in the draft constitution conducted by the Constituent Assembly, and to make the necessary amendments.
The Parliament stressed that it would adhere to the 12th constitutional amendment, and the deadlines set for the completion of its tasks.
However, Parliament’s procedures are still in dispute with the HCS, which refuses to change the government of Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba, or amend the constitutional declaration. The HCS is also demanding a constitutional path first, in order to hold Parliamentary elections as soon as possible.
The disagreement and political division over laws and constitutional amendments, was one of the reasons for the failure of the Presidential elections in December. The dispute maintains the current ambiguity in Libya. Especially regarding the fate of the two competing governments, and the future of the elections.
According to the constitutional declaration, if the committee fails to implement the constitutional amendments within 45 days, “a committee formed by Parliament and the HCS shall, within a month, prepare a constitutional rule and binding electoral laws.”
Recently, the General Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar and Speaker of the Libyan Parliament, Ageela Saleh arrived in Egypt to hold talks with senior officials.
Member of the HCS, Abdel-Salam Al-Safrani stated that the initiative of the UN Envoy to Libya, Stephanie Williams, “has reached a dead end.”
Al-Safrani added that the only way out of the political impasse, is “through the 12th constitutional amendment, or approving the Libyan Parliaments initiative to form a new government and draft a constitution. This will then be to put it to a referendum, at a later date.”
“This is the best settlement that can be implemented, and lead us to elections,” Al-Safrani concluded.
On 10 February, the Speaker of the Libyan Parliament, Ageela Saleh announced the unanimous appointment of Fathi Bashagha as the new Prime Minister. But incumbent PM, Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba warned that the appointment of a new interim government could lead to war and chaos in the country. He renewed his pledge to only hand power over to an elected government.