“Meshri and Aguila’s agreement is not effective without the Council approval of 50% + 1,” HCS member Kamel Al-Jatlawi says

By Vanessa Tomassini.

The head of the High Council of State (HCS), Khaled Al-Meshri, informed the envoy of the UN Secretary General in Libya and head of Unsmil, Abdullah Bathily, about the agreement reached with the President of Parliament, Aguila Saleh, during the recent meetings hosted by the Kingdom of Morocco. According to a HCS statement, during today’s discussions in the capital Tripoli, the two sides also discussed the latest developments in the North-African country and ways to resolve the current political stalemate by agreeing on solid constitutional foundations to hold free and fair elections so to end all transitional phases.

Reached out for a comment, HCS member Kamel Al-Jatlawi told “Speciale Libia” that the Council does not yet know the details of the deal. “HCS will listen to Al-Meshri probably next week. The agreement to pass must receive 50% + 1 of the votes. So far, therefore, it is not effective”. The deputy explained, but on Monday, the House of Representatives (HoR) spokesman Abdullah Belhaq stated that Parliament has already referred the names of seven candidates to lead sovereign institutions to the State Council, the latter will select three by the end of this year.

“In the first meetings in Morocco between the two committees (HoR and HCS) the change of six out of seven sovereign positions was agreed (Governor of the Central Bank of Libya, Head of the Audit Bureau, Head of the Administrative Control Authority, Head of High Electoral Commission, Head of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Public Prosecutor and President of the Supreme Court). The 2 parties also agreed that Parliament should send seven names to the HCS to select three to be sent back to the HoR to choose one”. Kamel Jatlawi explained.

“It was also agreed that none of the seven proposed names should be CBL Governor or hold current roles in the HCS, HoR or government, but some HoR submitted names currently hold senior positions and one in particular was Central Bank Governor as anticipated by Khaled Al-Meshri”. The deputy added, anticipating that “at the next meeting, the HCS must find a solution. Furthermore, when they claim to have agreed to unify the government, the members must know the mechanism for such unification”.

Al-Jatlawi expects that the countries that are meeting today in London (P3 + 2 + 2) “will support the agreement between Aguila and Meshri as a unified government is needed to go to the elections”. However, it does not seem necessary to intervene to replace the heads of sovereign institutions, the unification of which could take much longer than expected to organize the electoral process.

In this regard, a spokesman for the US State Department told us: “It is crucial for all Libya’s political leaders to work together to set a viable date for elections without delay.  They must act upon their promises and prioritize the interests of the Libyan people above their own.  The United States supports the overwhelming demands of the Libyan people to choose their own leaders through free and fair elections.  That requires diligent work on the constitutional basis for elections, and we commend Egypt’s ongoing mediation between the House of Representatives and High State Council of this constitutional dialogue.  We note the potential for progress also stemming from recent talks hosted by Morocco”.