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By Libya Herald reporters.
Tunis, 16 March 2016:
In an effort to end the divisions that have stymied the writing a new constitution, . . .[restrict]all members of the Constitution Drafting Assembly have been invited to begin meeting in Oman from tomorrow.
The Omani government and UNSMIL say they are seeking a consultative meeting which will attract all the CDA members to thrash out a final draft of document, which can then be put to a referendum.
UNSMIL has stressed the principle of the national ownership of the constitution. It says that as the hosts, it will seek to facilitate the discussion. It added however that it intended the meeting would only deal with outstanding issues.
In a statement today UNSMIL added: “The mission is confident that all members will work together in a constructive manner with the spirit of cooperation and responsibility and in respect of article 30 of the Constitutional Declaration to draft a constitution that fulfils the aspirations and ambitions of all Libyans”.
It remains unclear how many of the CDA members are prepared to travel to Oman. When the planned gathering was announced last week this newspaper pointed out that with 19 of the 60 members effectively boycotting proceedings, there are precisely the 41 votes necessary to fulfil the two-thirds plus one majority necessary for agreement.
However there has to be some doubt that all the 41 members still participating in the process will be travelling to Oman for what appears to be undefined period of time. Unlike with the Political Dialogue, UNSMIL has not announced any deadline for a deal. [/restrict]
