Cairo Hosts Libyan Parties Meeting
The meeting would be held on Tuesday, noting that the Council was represented in the meeting through the committee it formed to discuss the points of contention in the draft constitution.
On the seventh of this April, the Libyan House of Representatives issued a decision to form this committee, which includes 12 of its members: Ramadan Shambash, Suleiman Al-Faqih, Asma Al-Khoja, Salem Qanan, Al-Mabrouk Kabeer, Misbah Ouhaida, Saleh Qalameh, Nasr Al-Din Muhanna, and Abdullah Ali, And Salem Logley, and Al-Hadi Al-Saghir, and Abdel-Qader Suleiman.
According to the decision, the committee abides by what is stated in the amendment of the twelfth constitutional declaration, its provisions, and the deadlines set for the committee to finish its work.
Committee member Asma Al-Khoja said that the committee, in addition to its counterpart under the State Council, will discuss and review the controversial points in the draft constitution and the 12th constitutional amendment.
She added, in a press statement, that the work will not start with the issue of achieving a constitutional rule for the elections, but in the event of failure to reach consensus on the contentious points, the discussion will be about that rule regulating the elections.
“Last Chance” meeting
The head of the armament unit at the Egyptian Center for Thought and Strategic Studies, Ahmed Oliba, believes that the Cairo meeting is the last opportunity for the two chambers to reach consensus on the constitutional rule, “but it is not required that it be the last thing if it stumbles and the parties are unable to achieve it.”
He continued: “The process of completing the constitutional rule may constitute a step towards settling one of the complications witnessed by the Libyan crisis, and it would also relieve pressure and tension regarding the remaining outstanding issues in the Libyan scene, as the crisis no longer needs more burdens or political failure, and therefore the parties must “Libya in general is abandoning the rigidity of positions and monopolizing the legitimacy of political decision on a single basis, especially in the crucial issues on which the future of the country depends.”
He added that the two parties should take advantage of the opportunity in order to pave the way for the completion of the rest of the other entitlements, foremost among which is the referendum on the constitutional base, and resort to the electorate in resolving this problem, as it has the right in this regard.
He continued, “It is conceivable that the thawing of the ice between the two councils and the completion of the constitutional rule will constitute a qualitative breakthrough in the Libyan scene in general, and not only with regard to the state of political impasse. The political remains the best means for all parties and in the interest of Libya.”
