By Sami Zaptia.
London, 11 June 2021:
Ninety-one members of the High State Council (HSC) called yesterday for the temporary adoption of the draft constitution to facilitate the holding of the 24 December elections on time. The signatories included HSC head Khaled Mishri.
The call mirrors that made on Wednesday by 51 House of Representatives (HoR) members. In fact, the calls suggest a high degree of coordination by members of both bodies as their statements use the exact same key phrases.
It will be recalled that Libya’s controversial draft constitution was presented by the elected Constitutional Drafting Assembly (CDA) to the HoR in July 2017 – but the HoR failed to implement the constitutionally prescribed public referendum and adopt it. It must also be kept in mind that the draft constitution was not approved by the Amazigh minority which makes liable to rejection by a court.
Like the call by the HoR 51 members, the HSC 91 call for the draft constitution to be used solely for one presidential and parliamentary session provided that amendments to it start to be considered after two years from the start of its temporary adoption and the approval of any of its revisions are submitted to a popular referendum within a maximum deadline of the middle of the fourth year with the repeal of all previous constitutions.
They justified their call, again just like the HoR 51 members’ call, for the adoption of this temporary measure based on the fear that there would not be enough time to hold the prescribed referendum on the draft constitution before the 24 December elections.
