Arya News - A newly-formed committee has signed a preliminary agreement, but divided state institutions and legal voids threaten its execution.
Libyan negotiators have agreed to an initial election pact aimed at ending years of political divisions within the country.
The agreement covers electoral laws and the restructuring of the national elections commission, moving the process toward a highly complex and delicate implementation phase, experts and officials told Al Jazeera.
Recommended Stories
list of 4 items list 1 of 4 Can US, Middle Eastern powers unite Libya 15 years after Gaddafi overthrow? list 2 of 4 One geography, two states: Saudi Arabia’s security approach to Sudan list 3 of 4 Libya rivals test a new path towards unity, 15 years after Gadaffi downfall list 4 of 4 Libya’s brain drain, 15 years after Tripoli fell end of list Since 2014, Libya has been divided between two bitterly opposed administrations that separately control the east and west of the country, with repeated United Nations-led efforts to end the crisis.
Current negotiations have been conducted by a committee consisting of four representatives from the House of Representatives, based in eastern Libya, and four representatives from the High Council of State, linked to the internationally-recognised Government of National Unity in Tripoli.
The United Nations-backed ‘4+4 committee’ signed the initial draft in Tunis on August 20, with the challenge now in getting other parties in Libya on board.
Legal expert Al-Mahdi Kashbour told Al Jazeera that there appears to be a gap between the powers of the parties that signed the agreement and the institutions with the authority to implement it.
Libya political analyst Elias Al-Barouni stressed that the pact does not make any concrete plans for the country’s elections. Even if legal hurdles are cleared, the problem then shifts to who governs Libya in the interim, he added.
This could be the most difficult test yet for the peace process, as the transitional authority would control state resources and have to navigate a highly sensitive security environment.
Key Libyan legislative bodies and politicians have strong reservations about the negotiations. Among them is Nuh al-Malati, a member of the High Council of State, an advisory body for the Government of National Unity.
“The council has not yet received an official copy of the agreement that was reached… these changes do not enjoy consensus within the council,” he told Al Jazeera.
Al-Malati claimed that the Government of National Unity-linked members of the ‘4+4’ do not represent the official position of the council.
Mohamed al-Menfi, the leader of the Tripoli-based presidential council, also criticised the ambiguity surrounding the basis of the talks.
“The success of any consensus is linked to the clarity of its basis, its jurisdictions, and its applicability, especially when it comes to sovereign institutions like the elections commission,” al-Menfi told Al Jazeera.
There appears to be equal scepticism about the arrangement from members of the eastern authority.
Khalifa al-Daghari, a member of the House of Representatives, told Al Jazeera that lawmakers in this grouping did not participate in choosing negotiating team members.
“[They] followed the details of the committee’s meetings and the course of its talks through the media and official statements, without receiving any direct briefing on what took place in them or their outcomes,” he added.
He also claimed there was “secrecy over its proceedings”, and that the House of Representatives “cannot therefore determine its position on the agreement before officially reviewing its text and outcomes”.
Still, United Nations spokesman Mohammad al-Asadi told Al Jazeera that the pact was an “important step and a conclusion to the negotiations on all points under discussion”.
Amid criticism over the alleged secrecy of the negotiations, al-Asadi said the document will be made publicly available after the final signing.