A Tripartite Libyan Agreement on Elections… Will the Situation in the Country Calm Down?
A tripartite Libyan agreement on elections has been reached
President of the Presidential Council, Mohammed Al-Menfi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aguila Saleh, and Commander of the Libyan National Army, Khalifa Haftar, have reached an agreement to entrust the parliament with the responsibility of taking all necessary measures to adopt the electoral laws referred to it by the (6+6) Committee. The Political Path
Haftar, Al-Menfi, and Saleh agreed during a trilateral meeting in Benghazi on the importance of inviting the President of the Presidential Council to convene a meeting of the heads of the House of Representatives and the State Supreme Council for Consultation “to complete the national political path to achieve maximum consensus in order to achieve the electoral laws.”
A statement on the outcomes of the meeting held in Benghazi confirmed that President of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily, was invited not to take any unilateral steps in the political path.
Comprehensive Elections
Abdoulaye Bathily, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, stated that he renewed President Al-Menfi’s commitment to support Libyans in their efforts to reach an agreement that paves the way for comprehensive and peaceful elections.
Bathily stated that Al-Menfi informed him of the meeting’s results, affirming that he welcomed Al-Menfi’s coordination with the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, which falls within our joint efforts to encourage broad agreement among all Libyan parties.
National Dialogue
In a statement, the General Command of the Armed Forces stated that an agreement was reached to confirm the national ownership of any political work and national dialogue, and not to participate in any committees except through the internal national framework.
It was also agreed that the House of Representatives would take all necessary measures to adopt the electoral laws referred to it by the (6+6) Committee after completing its work and meetings, to put them into effect.
Egyptian Welcome
Egypt expressed its welcome to the joint statement issued in Benghazi by Dr. Mohammed Al-Menfi, President of the Presidential Council in Libya, Counselor Aguila Saleh, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Marshal Khalifa Haftar, Commander-in-Chief of the Libyan Arab Armed Forces, praising its confirmation of the national ownership of any national dialogue or political path that leads the country towards stability.
What’s Next?
Ashraf Al-Ashri, an expert in Arab affairs, says that the tripartite agreement in Libya between Dr. Mohammed Al-Menfi, President of the Presidential Council, Counselor Aguila Saleh, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Marshal Khalifa Haftar, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, comes as a continuation of Egypt’s role in supporting Libyans, one of its prominent milestones being hosting a Cairo meeting for Libyan leaders in 2020.
He emphasized the importance of the outcomes of the Libyan agreement and giving it the necessary dynamism to the House of Representatives under the leadership of Aguila Saleh, in order to assume the legal frameworks for adopting agreements and proposals for parliamentary and presidential elections within 6 months.
He pointed out that over the past nine years, Egypt has had a strong presence in the efforts to resolve the Libyan crisis, manifested in its active participation in conferences and international summits related to this file, noting that Cairo has played a significant role in attracting the international community towards positive engagement with the political settlement process in Libya.
It’s worth mentioning that on August 8th, the Libyan Parliament referred two draft laws on the election of the head of state and the House of Representatives to the Electoral Laws Preparation Committee (6+6) to review certain provisions based on members’ observations.
It should be noted that the 6+6 Committee announced weeks ago that it had reached full agreement on matters related to the election of the country’s president and the House of Representatives. It approved that the parliamentary and presidential elections will be conducted according to synchronized procedures and that the future legislative authority (the Parliament) will consist of two chambers, namely the House of Representatives and the Senate.
