Libya rivals agree on election law

Libya’s eastern and western political camps have reached consensus on the presidential election law, removing a major procedural obstacle to a national vote delayed for years, as reported by The Libya Observer and agencies on June 25th.

The agreement was reached during the fourth round of consultations between the 4+4 mini dialogue committee at the UN mission’s office in Tunis, the talks are part of a UN facilitated effort to resolve the legal and institutional disputes that have repeatedly prevented Libya from moving from political transition to elections.

The presidential law has long been one of the most sensitive files in the process, disputes over eligibility, constitutional authority, the powers of the future president and the sequencing of presidential and parliamentary elections helped derail the planned vote in 2021.

Representatives from Libya’s rival eastern and western political networks have found a formula they can both accept, at least within the limited framework of the dialogue.

The committee also made progress on the parliamentary election law and the completion of the Board of Commissioners of the High National Elections Commission, a presidential vote cannot be detached from the wider electoral framework, while the commission must be fully constituted before it can credibly organise and supervise a nationwide poll.

The consultations had addressed most election related issues connected to the first two stages of its roadmap, participants agreed to return for a fifth round in the first half of July to resolve the remaining points and build on the understandings already reached.

Libya’s political crisis has repeatedly shown that agreements reached in negotiations can stall when they are passed back to the House of Representatives, the High Council of State and other institutions with competing claims to authority.

Therefore the dialogue must translate its consensus into legal texts accepted by Libya’s formal bodies, while the election commission needs the authority, funding and security environment to prepare for a vote.

The Libya Observer plus agencies, maghrebi.org