By Libya Herald staff.
Tunis, 10 March 2016:
Members of the Libya Dialogue meeting in Tunis today declared that they recognised as valid . . .[restrict]the 23 February statement by some 100 members of the House of Representatives (HoR) endorsing the Government of National Accord (GNA) proposed by prime minister-designate Faiez Serraj. Falling short of actually approving it themselves, they called on the HoR to do so without delay.
They also told the Presidency Council to move to Tripoli and start working there. Public bodies, including financial institutions had to cooperate with it, they said, further adding that State Council members should meet more frequently.
There was nothing in the Libya Dialogue statement issued this evening about what would happen if the HoR failed to act. However, two members told the Libya Herald that if nothing was done, the Dialogue would the remove the need for an HoR vote.
“We will change Article 3 of the [Libyan Political] Agreement,” one of them said.
He also said that Presidency Council would be told tomorrow, Friday, that if it did not go to Tripoli and start organising security arrangements, it would be sacked. “No move to Tripoli, no Presidency Council, no accord”, he said.
The Libya Dialogue members had been called to meet in Tunis by UN Special Envoy Martin Kobler in a bid to break the deadlock over GNA approval by the HoR. They included not only members of the original political track but a number of others as well, including party leaders.
Ahead of today’s meeting, there were reported moves to get them to bypass the HoR and, using the HoR members’ statement, announce that the government was approved. This, however, was opposed by several members, not least HoR deputy president Emhemed Shouaib. Speaking on TV yesterday, he said that it could be approved only by the HoR.
Today’s lengthy meeting initially saw strong differences of opinion between those present about what to do next. “The political parties did not want a strong statement,” one seasoned member said. But in the end, there was agreement. “Some of those here didn’t sign the agreement at Skhirat,” he explained, “but everyone signed today’s statement. It was a good meeting.”
Kobler was likewise confident that a means to ensuring the GNA was not stillborn had been found. “It was a long day, but a successful one” he said.
The Dialogue members are to meet tomorrow with Prime Minister-designate Faiez Serraj and other members of the Presidency Council as well as with foreign ambassadors. [/restrict]
