Libyan meetings on electoral law kick-off in Morocco

RABAT, Morocco

Meetings between respective delegations of Libya’s High Council of State and the House of Representatives began Thursday in the Moroccan capital Rabat to discuss electoral law.

The meeting comes as the date for presidential and parliamentary elections gets closer.

Rival political groups agreed in February to form an interim unity government to lead the country to Dec. 24 elections.

Mohammad Menfi was elected president of the interim setup with Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh as prime minister. Mossa Al-Koni and Abdullah Hussein Al-Lafi were also voted to the three-man presidency council, giving Libyans hope that the protracted civil war would soon end.

But the oil-rich country’s political groups have yet to agree on a constitutional basis that will regulate the conduct of the planned elections.

Recently, tensions rose between parliament, the High Council of State and the unity government concerning electoral powers and laws.

The head of the High Council of State, Khalid Al-Mishri, on Sept. 21 during a visit to Rabat, rebuffed an earlier decision by the House of Representatives to withdraw confidence from the Dbeibeh unity government, insisting he would continue working with it until elections take place.

Morocco also hosted Libyan Parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh two weeks before Al-Mishri’s visit.

Morocco previously hosted five rounds of dialogue between Libya’s disputing sides, the last of which was in January when a mechanism for assuming sovereign positions was agreed on.

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar