Tripoli, 3 May:
The NTC has changed its mind on banning parties that have a religious, tribal or regional platform. Last week . . .[restrict]it announced that it had passed laws Nos. 29 and 30 forbidding any such parties.
However, now it has been decided they are to be allowed to be registered and compete in the 19 June elections for the National Congress.
According to NTC spokesman Mohammed Al-Hareizi, the u-turn occured when the law when before the NTC’s legal committee, whose job it is to examine legislation before it returns to the NTC for final approval. If then approved, legislation is published.
In this case, said Al-Hareizi, there was considerable opposition in the legal committee to the clause which then convinced the NTC on Wednesday to drop it.
Some observers said that the original clause was so vague as to be meaningless, and that in effect it only banned parties whose nams indicated they were Islamic, Regional or tribal.
The change means that no parties are likely to be refused registration for the election to the assembly that will draw up a new constitution. [/restrict]
