The High Council of State (HCS) discussed the proposal of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) headed by Abdoulaye Bathily to resolve the Libyan crisis, as the Head of the HCS, Mohammed Takala, briefed the members on the visits of the HCS delegation that took place recently.
Sources close to the HCS said that the presidency had decided to form a committee of three members for the five-party meetings of Bathily's initiative: Musa Faraj from the eastern region, Mohammed Al-Hadi from the southern region, and Mohammed Bousnina from the western region.
The sources confirmed the existence of disagreements within the HCS after its presidency announced the mechanism for selecting its representatives for Bathily's initiative.
The Second Deputy Head of the HCS, Omar Al-Abedi, said in a statement to Libya Al-Ahrar TV channel that he was not a party to the selection of three representatives from the three constituencies by the presidency in the preparatory meeting for Bathily's initiative, indicating that the selection process took place without a clear mechanism, which will complicate the situation and disrupt the lead-up to elections. He said that the HCS will have a different opinion regarding this selection.
Other members confirmed that the HCS session was closed without any results or agreement after a dispute occurred over the selection of representatives. However, some other members saw that the invitation to participate in the five-party meetings was for the five main leaders, and thus the invitation is addressed to HCS Head Takala to name his representatives, saying that there is no justification for the members to protest against his nominations.
Bathily extended on November 23 invitations to key Libyan institutional stakeholders to attend a meeting in the coming period to reach a settlement on the politically contested issues pertaining to the implementation of the electoral process.
UNSMIL said in a statement that Bathily had requested the institutional stakeholders to designate representatives to participate in a preparatory meeting, adding that the designated representatives of the Presidential Council, House of Representatives, High Council of State, Government of National Unity and the General Command of the “Libyan National Army” would discuss the date, venue, and agenda of the meeting of their principals.
