By Libya Herald reporters.
Tripoli/Tunis, 20 February 2017:
House of Representatives President Ageela Saleh has summoned member of the parliament to a session tomorrow, Tuesday, to choose a new Dialogue Committee. The 15 members selected will then meet with another 15 from the State Council to draft changes to the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA).
Under the terms of the LPA, which was approved by the UN Security Council in December 2015, the only way it can be amended is by a joint committee of representatives of both houses.
The decision to call a session to select the HoR Dialogue team follows a rapid series of meetings Ageela Saleh had, first with the Egyptian government following the breakdown of the much-heralded Serraj-Hafter meeting, then in Algiers with Algeria’s Maghreb, African and Arab affairs minister Abdelkader Massahel and, after that, back in Egypt yesterday, with UN special envoy Martin Kobler.
The HoR’s plans to chose a new Dialogue team have been aired for the past few weeks, but these were postponed after southern members boycotted the parliament over a number of grievances relating wholly to Fezzan. Their absence robbed the HoR of a quorum. Their decision today to return is thought to have spurred Ageela into calling for the session.