Enrique Fernández
The terms for the formation of a new government, with the help of the House of Representatives and the Council of State, will be set out in the new roadmap.
Libya’s elections are expected to produce a strong and lasting government with clear objectives for the nation’s future. To achieve this, at the end of the session to be held in the country’s capital, Benghazi, the House of Representatives together with the Council of State will agree on the steps to be taken in this new roadmap.
The appointment of the unified government that will moderate the elections will require the prior support of 10 members of the Council of State and 15 members of the House of Representatives. The roadmap calls for a unified government, which will oversee the elections for 20 days from the day they are adopted, to have the opportunity to run for president. Just as the laws are passed, the State and House of Representatives will adopt the new map.
“Election laws and roadmap. The ‘most challenging’ test that Libya will have to pass,” were the key words given by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aqila Saleh, at the end of the meeting, which resumed the council’s committees after all activity was halted for more than two weeks to discuss their concerns over the electoral registration.
Saleh said during the session that “it was decided to approve the roadmap, noting that the House of Representatives is the only body with the original competence to give confidence to the government, and not others”. Without revealing any additional details of the approved roadmap, he continued: “Confidence is given to the government on the basis of its programme, including the way it functions”.
In light of recent developments, there is growing optimism among the Libyan people that the political crisis will be resolved, which is why the UN (United Nations) envoy to Libya, Abdullah Bathily, insisted on the methods that will be available to discuss how to ensure that the upcoming elections result in lasting stability.
The Aqila Saleh Media Centre later published excerpts of the elements of the map via its Facebook account. This leaves the door open for him to run for the presidency of the unified government, which will oversee the upcoming elections during the 20 days following the date of the map’s adoption. Furthermore, “one week after the publication of the list of candidates, the Council of State will hold a public session in which voting will be done by secret ballot,” he concluded.
Among other things, the new plan states that anyone seeking to serve in the Unified Government “must receive the recommendation of 15 members of the House of Representatives and 10 members of the Council of State”. The results of the elections will be transferred from the Council of State to the House of Representatives, Al-Ain reports, “within 24 hours of the date of the election”.
Abdullah Belihak, the spokesman of the Libyan House of Representatives stated: “The council will discuss the issue of the roadmap emanating from the work of the 6+6 committee formed by the parliament and the Supreme State Council to prepare the electoral laws”. One of the outcomes of the “6+6” committee, which was established by the House of Representatives and the State, is the roadmap to be adopted for the upcoming elections. The committee completed a month ago the list of new laws that will govern the next elections in order to resolve the conflict between the two governments.
In the presence of the ambassadors of Turkey, Italy, Egypt, France, Germany, Tunisia and the UK, Bathily, and several other foreign ambassadors held intensive talks with the head of the Council, Aqila Saleh, and Army Commander Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, before the Libyan House of Representatives resumed its official sessions at its headquarters in Benghazi.
In a statement shared via Twitter, Bathily said, “Last night in Benghazi, I had a constructive meeting with Khalifa Haftar with the ambassadors of Italy, Egypt, France, Germany, Tunisia, Turkey and the UK.” “We discussed preparations for the Security Working Group meeting scheduled for this Tuesday,” the statement continued.
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