3rd meetings of Libyan Constitutional Track kicks off in Egypt's Hurghada

CAIRO – 9 February 2021: The third meetings of the Libyan Constitutional Track kicked off in Egypt's Hurghada on Tuesday with the participation of the delegations of Libya's House of Representatives and High Council of State.

The meetings, which will conclude on February 11, are chaired by Chairman of Libya's High National Election Commission Emad al-Sayeh, and are aimed at conferring over a mechanism to run a referendum on the Libyan constitution.

Sayeh asserted in his speech the necessity of capitalizing on the current positive vibes experienced by the Libyan political scene embodied in electing a new executive authority, and the outcomes of 5+5 Joint Military Commission.

The recently-appointed UN Special Envoy on Libya and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Jan Kubis, thanked in his speech the Egyptian government for backing peaceful solutions and hosting the Constitutional Track. Kubis underlined that this meeting is salient for it seeks to harness congruence among Libyans on how the referendum can be held.

Speaking of elections, the UNSMIL underlined Saturday that Prime Minister Abdel Hamid Dabiba has to form a government within 21 days, and that the Tobruk-based elected House of Representatives has to endorse it also within 21 days.

The transfer of power from the Government of National Accord (GNA) led by Fayez al-Saraj to the new government takes place once the endorsement is made. In case, the house did not endorse Dabiba’s government, the decision will be in the hands of the Libyan National Dialogue Forum.

The new Chair of the Presidential Council is Mohamed Menfi, and the other two members are Mossa Al-Koni, and Abdullah Al-Lafi. Dabiba-Menfi list received the necessary votes in the ballot held by the UN-fostered Libyan National Dialogue Forum Saturday, and its task is paving the way for the elections scheduled for December 24, 2021.

The GNA formed in accordance with the Skhirat Agreement in 2014 was supposed to hold elections by 2017 but failed and continued in power controlling western Libya.