On Sunday, the Chairman of Libya’s High National Elections Commission (HNEC) Emad Al-Sayeh received sever members of the 6+6 Joint Committee, tasked with drafting election laws.
HNEC said in a statement that the meeting “comes within the framework of the communication efforts made by the committee, with the parties concerned with the implementation of electoral laws.”
The meeting discussed a number of technical issues related to the drafting of electoral laws, based on international principles and standards. The two sides affirmed observance of the constitutional provisions included in the 13th Amendment of the Constitutional Declaration.
The meeting also touched on the issue of dividing districts, and distributing seats in the elections of the Parliament and the Senate. Views regarding the issue of electoral appeals and disputes were also exchanged.
HNEC vowed to provide “technical and legal advice in a way that facilitates the work of the committee and speeds up the issuance of laws to reach the implementation of the electoral map planned for this year.”
Last week, the Speaker of the Libyan Parliament, Ageela Saleh called on the 6+6 committee, jointly formed with the High Council of State (HCS) to “accelerate its work concerning drafting elections laws.”
Saleh made his remarks during a meeting with the six committee members who represent the Parliament, namely: Noureddine Khaled, Jalal Al-Shwehdi, Salih Qelma, Abu Salah Shalabi, Miloud Al-Aswad, and Ezzedine Qwereb.
Along with their counterparts from the HCS, the 12 MP’s are tasked with drafting laws that will serve as the constitutional basis for holding Presidential, and Parliamentary elections in Libya.
On 27 February, the UN Envoy to Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily announced an initiative aimed at enabling legislative and Presidential elections this year. As well as the setting up of a high-level steering panel, he told the United Nations Security Council earlier this month.
The proposed mechanism will bring together all relevant Libyan stakeholders, including representatives of political institutions, major political figures, tribal leaders, civil society organizations, security actors, women, and youth representatives.
Bathily noted that the initiative will facilitate the adoption of the legal framework and time-bound roadmap to the holding of elections in 2023. The proposed panel will also “provide a platform to advance consensus around related matters, such as election security and the adoption of a Code of Conduct for all candidates,” he added.
Libya is currently facing a political crisis after the Libyan Parliament swore in a new Prime Minister, former Interior Minister, Fathi Bashagha in February 2022. Members of Parliament argued that the incumbent Prime Minister, Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba’s mandate expired when the elections failed to take place.
Dbaiba has refused to cede power, amid the fallout from a failed attempt to hold national elections in December 2021.
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.
