On Thursday, Libya’s High Council of State (HCS) voted to approve the 13th Constitutional Amendment issued by the country’s Parliament “that is supposed to provide a basis for elections,” its media office said.
The amendment was passed during an emergency session chaired by HCS Head, Khaled Al-Mishri at the Council’s headquarters in Tripoli.
The HCS reported that during the session the 13th Constitutional Amendment was approved by a majority of the members present after a quorum was completed.
The HCS also reported that they agreed to start forming a committee to draft electoral laws to be approved during the next session.
Thursday’s vote approved a constitutional amendment that was issued last month by the Libyan Parliament, and was presented as a step towards holding elections.
On Monday the UN Envoy to Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily said he planned to set up a new steering panel to enable the holding of elections after the failure of Libyan political elites to agree on constitutional rules.
Libya has been locked in a political stalemate since late 2021, when the scheduled elections were cancelled because of disputes over the rules and the eastern-based Parliament, withdrew support from the interim government.
Peacemaking efforts since then have focused on getting the Parliament and the HCS to agree on a constitutional basis for elections and voting rules.
Bathily cited the 2015 Libyan Political Agreement, to say he was setting up a steering committee of major Libyan figures to adopt a time-bound roadmap to elections.
In remarks that appeared aimed at both Parliament, which was elected in 2014, and the HCS, which emerged from a chamber elected in 2012, he said that “most institutions lost their legitimacy years ago”.
Speaking before it was approved, Bathily also described the amendment as “controversial within the Libyan political class and general citizenry”, noting it did not address contentious issues such as candidate eligibility or create a clear timeline for elections.
Many Libyans have grown sceptical that their political leaders are negotiating in good faith, saying their true goal is to delay any election that could cost them positions of power and privilege.
