On Thursday, the Speaker of the Libyan Parliament, Ageela Saleh thanked “Egypt and its political leadership for their great efforts to help Libya overcome its decade-long crisis.”
These remarks came at a press conference held at the Egyptian Parliament, and in the presence of Egyptian House Speaker, Hanafi Gebali and Head of Libya’s High Council of State (HCS), Khaled Al-Mishri.
“Egypt has always sided with the interests of Libya and Libyans in order to be able to solve the crises, end foreign intervention in internal affairs, and help the Libyan state restore sovereignty,” Saleh added.
“The brotherly neighbouring state of Egypt has always encouraged Libyans to close ranks and exchange views. Not to mention that it has hosted and sponsored the various meetings and talks to secure a consensus, and find a lasting solution to the internal political divisions which have negatively impacted the lives of the Libyan people,” said Saleh.
In turn, Al-Mishri praised Egypt’s role in hosting the Libyan joint committee’s meetings, “to secure a consensus over constitutional arrangements, paving the way for the long-awaited elections. After we have reached a consensus over the constitutional arrangements, we will declare a new roadmap for elections.”
He added that, “thanks to Egyptian efforts, we were able to surmount many of the obstacles and difficulties and make it much easier for committees to hold several rounds of talks, and finalize a clear-cut constitutional document that can pave the way for drafting election laws.”
According to Al-Mishri, “under Egypt’s sponsorship, all committees were able to both, reach consensus over many of the points of the constitutional document, with the exception of one or two points. As well as agree that election laws would be jointly drafted by both the Libyan Parliament and HCS.”
Following the press conference on Thursday, Saleh and Al-Mishri issued a public statement on the constitutional document.
The statement said that “the document will be referred to both Parliament and HCS to be endorsed. The two will also draw up a roadmap for concluding all the arrangements necessary for completing the election process, and all its related laws, executive regulations, and measures necessary for uniting institutions in the country.”
