Egypt Hosts Final Round of Libyan Constitutional Talks

The third and final round of Libyan talks began in Cairo on Sunday to discuss laying down a constitutional framework for holding the country’s presidential and parliamentary elections, and how to secure them at a time when the Libyan capital, Tripoli, has been beset by armed clashes.

The Libyan Constitutional Track Committee – formed according to a UN initiative to resolve the Libyan crisis – will meet to complete the remaining provisions of the constitutional rule, on the basis of which the general elections will be held.

The importance of this third round stems from discussing 30 percent of the controversial points in the constitutional rule that paves the way for holding the elections, after the failed attempt to hold them on December 24.

The interlocutors representing the Libyan House of Representatives and the High Council of State had postponed the discussion on these points to this session, after deciding 70 percent of the constitutional rule during the last round on May 20 in Cairo.

The United Nations Mission in Libya put forward its initiative to resolve the crisis and debate on the constitutional basis to contain the crisis, after the outgoing Prime Minister of the National Unity Government, Abdul Hamid al-Dbeibeh, refused to hand over power to the Fathi Bashagha government appointed by parliament in early March.