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By Libya Herald reporter.
Tunis, 23 January 2017:
The UN-brokered Libya Dialogue team meeting in the Tunisian resort of Hammamet has again been prevented from making any decisions about amending the Libya Political Agreement (LPA) because of divisions within the House of Representatives (HoR) back in Tobruk.
Following earlier criticism of HoR president Ageela Salah from a number of members after he nominated 15 members to the HoR’s new Dialogue committee – they said that he was usurping their right to make the choice – he convened a session this morning to decide the matter. Initially a boycott of southern members over the separate issue of support for the region meant there was no quorum but by 3pm a session started. It was fractious, however.
Some members reportedly wanted 10 members on the committee, a HoR member later told the Libya Herald. Others wanted 15. For his part, Ageela suggested 12: four each from Tripolitania, Cyrenaica and Fezzan.
There was also disagreement over the mechanism of making changes to the LPA, with some members wanting a team to join the Libya Dialogue meeting in Hammament and others saying that under the LPA, changes had to be agreed first by a committee made up of five HoR members and five from the State Council. Therefore, they claimed, the Libya Dialogue team meeting in Hammamet could be ignored.
Some of those suggesting the latter proposition included members who until now had rejected the LPA in its entirety.
The session was, however, abruptly suspended by Ageel Saleh after a row between Benghazi member Isa Al-Araibi and Sabah Fraij from Tarhouna.
It is due to reconvene tomorrow, Tuesday, but there is no guarantee that HoR members will agree on a new dialogue committee, let along that some of the committee (if not all of them) will go to Hammamet and join the Libya Dialogue.
Meanwhile in Hammamet, according to sources at the meeting, there is agreement that the LPA needs to be changed and that the PC’s powers and number of its members be reduced. But without a group from the HoR turning up at the resort and supporting the proposals, nothing can be done.
