The Egyptian Foreign Ministry welcomed the Libyan Parliament’s amendment of the 13th Constitutional Declaration. It described this as “an important step for holding Presidential and Parliamentary elections.”
It affirmed Cairo’s aspiration for the Libyan Parliament and the High Council of State (HCS) to finalize the election laws. As well as adding that the amendment “facilitates holding the elections under the supervision of a neutral executive authority, that upholds the supreme interests of Libya.”
The statement reiterated Egypt’s “full support for a Libyan-led solution,” praising the Parliament “as the only elected legislative body in Libya”
It called on all parties involved in the crisis to “abide by these irreplaceable foundations and determinants.”
Egypt also stressed the need to “stop foreign interference in Libya, and ensure the withdrawal of all foreign forces, foreign fighters, and mercenaries from the country.”
The statement confirmed Cairo’s support for the 5+5 Joint Military Commission (JMC), and the sovereignty and stability of Libya.
On Thursday, the Libyan Parliament published the 13th amendment to the Constitutional Declaration in its official gazette, according to Parliament Spokesman, Abdullah Blaiheg.
On 7 February, the Parliament approved the 13th amendment to the Constitutional Declaration, which was issued in August 2011 with a unanimous vote.
The 13th constitutional amendment contains 34 articles regarding Libya’s system of government. According to Article 1, this consists of a legislative authority with two chambers, and an executive authority headed by a President, directly elected by the people.
The legislative authority will be called the “National Assembly” and will be comprised of the Parliament, which will be based in Benghazi, and a Senate in Tripoli.
Article 13 stipulates that the election of a National Assembly and a President must take place within a maximum period of 240 days from the approval of the electoral laws.
On 10 February 2022, the Libyan Parliament announced the unanimous appointment of Fathi Bashagha as the new Prime Minister. But Abdul-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.
