By Sami Zaptia.
London, 3 January 2022:
The House of Representative’s (HoR) Road Map Committee met the heads of the various High State Council (HSC) Committees yesterday.
The HoR Road Map Committee was set up by the HoR on 22 December 2021 to come up with a new political road map for Libya after the failure to hold elections on 24 December 2021 – elections that had been prescribed by the previous Libya Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) Road Map.
The HoR reported that at yesterday’s meeting, held at the HoR’s Tripoli regional office, discussions focused on the constitutional path.
The HoR Road Map Committee said it aims to widen its consultations as much as possible in an effort to reach consensus as soon as possible. It reported that the HSC committee heads welcomed its proposals, which were not disclosed, and said they would report to the wider HSC membership for consideration.
HoR Road Map Committee meeting on Saturday
It will be recalled that the HoR Road Map Committee had also held a meeting in Tripoli on Saturday after which it had declared that it intends to meet and consult with all Libyan parties, including ‘‘political, military, security and others concerned with the political process’’ in order to listen to all opinions and proposals.
It had declared that in the first phase it will consult with the HSC, the Constitutional Drafting Authority, the government, and political parties.
Analysis
Although it is very early days yet in the discussion and negotiations process, there seems to now be emerging a consistency in the message that the HoR Road Map Committee is sending out. It is projecting the image that it intends to consult widely on the new political road map, including with what had historically been its main political adversary, the HSC.
The vibe from the HoR under the caretaker leadership of Fawzi Nuwairi is now clearly a different one to that of the permanent Speaker of the HoR, Ageela Saleh. Ageela Saleh has stepped aside temporarily as Speaker of the HoR as he is standing as a candidate for the country’s presidential elections. The election laws prescribe that candidates for elections must temporarily step aside from their current posts.
At this stage, the Nuwairi HoR leadership is coming across as a leadership that wants to be inclusive and consult widely before coming up with a new road map.
Time will tell if this atmosphere will persist and if the HoR will find adversaries, such as the HSC, that are willing to compromise and reach a new implementable road map – for the greater good of Libya.
