A new round of talks in Cairo involving the Constitutional Track Committee consisting of members from the House of Representatives (HoR) and the High Council of State (HCS) has concluded with the two sides agreeing on 140 articles of the draft constitution.
A closing statement disclosed that the committee established a task force to prepare a compromise formulation on the articles agreed upon to refer them to the HoR and HCS for consideration.
"The agreed-upon articles concern Chapters I to IV, while 'very few' articles were shifted to the next round of talks for further review and amendment and would be discussed with the remaining articles considering the draft constitution as one indivisible unit."
Sources familiar with the meeting had revealed that the Egyptians are putting pressure on the Libyan delegation to reach consensus on the constitutional base and electoral laws.
Information was leaking regarding a meeting between the HoR Speaker Aqila Saleh and HCS head Khaled Al-Mashri under Egyptian auspices, which ended with an unspoken agreement to organize general elections within 12 months.
Reportedly, Saleh and Al-Mishri agreed to form a mini-cabinet to end the struggle on authority between the PM-designate of Parliament Fathi Bashagha and the incumbent PM Abdul Hamid Dbeibah.
The second round of talks of the Constitutional Track Committee was inaugurated in the Egyptian capital on May 15, under Stephanie Williams' auspices, the UN Special Adviser on Libya.
Williams is in a race against time to achieve a breakthrough in the Libyan file, with increasing international pressure to name a new envoy to head the UN mission in Libya.
