By Libya Herald reporter.
Tunis, 2 February 2016:
Ten leading political figures, including deputy General National Congress president Salah Makhzoum, have stated that . . .[restrict]the House of Representatives (HoR) cannot unilaterally amend the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA) endorsed by the UN Security Council in December after it was earlier signed in Skhirat.
Makhzoum was one of the main signatories of the agreement.
A week ago, the House of Representatives gave preliminary approval to the LPA but also voted to delete supplementary Article 8, seen by some members as deliberately targeting General Khalifa Hafter. It states that powers in the hands of all senior military, civil and security posts are to be transferred to the Presidency Council which then, within 20 days of the HoR formally approving the accord, should decide on who fill the posts.
The joint statement that the HoR cannot remove the article was also signed by, among others, Justice & Construction Party leader Mohamed Sawan, Belgassem Gzeit, the Misrata member who leads the pro-LPA group within the General National Congress, and Mohamed Ammari who has just suspended his membership of the Presidency Council in protest at prime minister-designate Faiez Serraj’s talks in Marj with Khalifa Hafter.
UN Special Envoy Martin Kobler has already pointed out that the HoR cannot chop and change the LPA to suit their will. [/restrict]