On Friday, the United Nations (UN) Special Adviser for Libya, Stephanie Williams, briefed the German Minister of State, Tobias Lindner, and the State Secretary, Andreas Michaelis, on the current situation in Libya.
The UN adviser said that she met with the two German Ministers in Berlin to brief them on the outcomes of the recent consultations held in Cairo between the 13th and 18th of April of the Libyan Joint Committee of the Libyan two chambers.
Williams pointed out that she agreed with the German officials on the need to put Libya back on the path to national elections “within a solid constitutional framework and a firm timeframe.”
“We also stressed the importance of maintaining absolute calm on the ground, and working on all the Berlin tracks, including the security, economic, and international humanitarian law and human rights tracks,” the UN adviser added.
She valued Germany’s generous support for the UN’s work in Libya.
Last week, the Spokesperson of the Libyan House of Representatives (HoR), Abdullah Blaiheg, confirmed that the rapprochement has been reached regarding the work mechanism of the Constitutional Base Committee. He added that it is now working to limit the controversial points to the draft constitution.
In press statements, Blaiheg said that “the solutions required the amendment of some controversial articles in the constitution which have not yet crystallized at the meeting of the Parliament and the High Council of State (HCS) in Cairo.”
He added, “no official statements have been issued on the results that have been reached, but there is progress on some differences between the two delegations.”
The Parliament’s Spokesperson continued, “if the discussions require a departure from the constitutional path, the committee must return to the parliament, which specified its field of work.”
Blaiheg noted that, “the draft constitution faced objections from the federalist movement and the Amazighs who want to constitutionalize some rights.”
He pointed out that “the 12th amendment took its legal form and was approved in a valid session with a proper quorum and became part of the interim constitution.”
Blaiheg explained that “if the effort to amend the controversial points in the draft constitution succeeds, it will be put to a referendum. He said that the second track in the road map, if the constitution is not approved, is to amend the electoral laws and then hold presidential and parliamentary elections.”
He concluded, “the maximum period of time according to the road map is 14 months, but at that time there will be a permanent constitution for Libya.”