The third and final round of Cairo-hosted negotiations between the Joint House of Representatives and High Council of State Committee on the Libyan Constitutional Track came to an end on 20 June. Egypt welcomed the outcomes of the meetings.
Ahmed Hafez, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, praised the great consensus on the contentious articles in the Libyan Draft Constitution. He expressed his hope that the Libyan Constitutional Committee will continue its efforts and finalize the remaining few articles as soon as possible.
The 5+5 Joint Military Committee witnessed the presence of Chief of Staff of the Government of National Unity, Mohamed Al-Haddad, and Chief of Staff of the Libyan National Army, Abdul Razzaq Al-Nadhuri.
The meeting agreed on the importance of “unifying the military; and building a strong army away from political tensions by forming joint committees for this purpose.”
During the consultations, the members of the Committee adhered to the ceasefire agreement, stressing the need to remove mercenaries, foreign forces and foreign fighters from the country.
For his part, Al-Haddad praised the work of the committee and the positive steps it took to achieve the desired stability, stressing that the military institution supports the aspirations of the Libyan people to establish a civil state through the peaceful transfer of power, and the importance of the return of displaced persons and the containment of all to heal the rift.
He also stressed the need to unify the military institution, expel mercenaries, and “integrate members of armed groups according to their wishes into the military, security, and civil institutions of the state.”
Stephanie Williams, the UN Secretary General’s Special Adviser on Libya, said the drafting committee of the constitution “is currently working to finalize the constitution draft.”
Williams called upon the presidents of both houses to meet within 10 days at an agreed place to overcome the conflicting points, thanking the members of both houses for their efforts to resolve their differences on a number of points
She stressed that the United Nations is committed to supporting all Libyan efforts to end the lengthy transition and instability that has afflicted the country through inclusive and transparent national elections as soon as possible and to meet the aspirations of the nearly 3 million Libyans who registered to vote in the elections.
