Libya’s Government of National Unity (GNA) and Khalifa Haftar, the leader of the armed forces in the east of the country, have reportedly reached a consensus on the formation of a new “Government of Reconciliation”. This agreement was reflected in the meeting of the “6+6” committee formed to prepare the legal framework for the elections in the Moroccan capital, Rabat. The committee agreed on the formation of a joint government to manage the election process.
Cairo-based negotiations between Tripoli and Benghazi have been taking place for a long time. The most important item on the agenda of these talks is to determine the laws that will lead the country to elections. The most important disagreement in this context is the relevant articles that will determine whether Khalifa Haftar, the leader of the armed forces in the east of the country, will be a candidate. It is claimed that a consensus has been reached in the talks deadlocked because the government in Tripoli opposed Haftar’s candidacy. The deal is based on the formation of a joint government that will lead the country to elections. Accordingly, a source close to the Libyan government told AA, “During the negotiations between the delegations of the two sides in the Egyptian capital Cairo, an agreement was reached that the prime minister should be from the west of the country and his deputy from the east.” According to the source, who requested anonymity, according to the agreement between the two sides, GNU Premier Dibeybe will continue to serve as prime minister in the new government in exchange for Haftar’s renunciation of the pressure he exerted to prevent him from participating in the presidential elections. In other words, Dibeybe will not object to the electoral law’s exclusion of articles preventing “dual citizens and soldiers” from running for the presidency, paving the way for Haftar’s presidential candidacy.
The consensus in the informal Cairo-based negotiations was reflected in the talks in Rabat of the UN-supervised “6+6” committee to prepare the legal framework for the elections. According to a Libya Observer briefing last night, the meeting agreed on the rules for the election of the President and members of the National Assembly. Accordingly, they agreed to form a unified government to run the election process.
Consisting of 6 members each from the Libyan Supreme Council of State and the House of Representatives, the Committee for the Electoral Laws started its meetings in Rabat on Monday, May 22, to draft the laws for the elections planned to be held this year.
An anonymous Libyan member of the Committee told AA that logistical issues were discussed during the meeting with the UN Special Envoy to Libya and the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) election official. The member said that issues such as the individual electoral system and electoral lists were discussed during the talks, adding that closed and open lists, the majority system, the seats to be allocated to women and internal migration issues were also discussed in the meeting. The Libyan official noted that the 6+6 committee discussed these issues both among themselves and with the UN official.
The “Constitutional Declaration”, announced after the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi’s rule in Libya (1969-2011), is considered the provisional constitution in the country. The Committee for the Electoral Laws, consisting of 6 members each from the Libyan Supreme State Council and the House of Representatives, is planned to amend Article 13 of the Constitutional Declaration, regarded as the constitutional basis for the elections in the country.
Haftar eliminated Bashagha
On the other hand, it was claimed that Fathi Basaga was suspended from his post since he rejected the reconciliation between Dibeybe and Haftar.
The source who spoke to AA said that Bashagha did not want to take a lower-level post in the new government, “Bashagha refused to be Dibeybe’s deputy. For this reason, Haftar put pressure on the House of Representatives to remove Bashagha.”
In his resignation letter addressed to the Presidency of the House of Representatives in Tobruk on May 16, Bashagha said, “I express that Libyan Deputy Prime Minister Ali Faraj al-Katrani was assigned with all our duties and authorities.” On the same day, in a session held in the House of Representatives in Tobruk, an investigation was launched against Fathi Bashaga, who was elected Prime Minister for the east of the country in February 2022.
Abdullah Bliheg, the House spokesperson, stated in a written statement that “the Parliament voted by majority for the dismissal of Libyan Premier Fathi Bashagha and the opening of an investigation against him on charges of damaging public property” and stated that Osama Hammad, Minister of Finance and Planning, was appointed as acting Prime Minister for the seat vacated by Bashagha.
