Arguments raised regarding controversial articles in the Draft of the Constitution are unfounded, says Constitution Drafting Assembly (CDA) member Itimad Al-Masalati, insisting that the aim is to end the constitution project for good.

Speaking to The Libya Observer, Al-Masalati explains that opening the door for amending the draft would strip it from its legal status and susceptible the document to appeals.

"It is impossible to write a constitution that fits or satisfies everyone. No constitution in the world goes without controversial articles... what you see wrong, others see right, to coexist together, we have to make compromises without prejudice to our principles."

She highlighted that accepting or rejecting the constitution should be settled through a national referendum and not by politicians.

"The constitution was not written for the Parliament or the High Council of State, it was drafted for the people who are the legitimate source of authority, and they are the ones to decide to accept or reject the constitution through a public referendum."

Al-Masalati added that what the Parliament and the HCS are doing is an attempt to circumvent the draft constitution, comparing their attempts to change the constitution to their move to amend the election laws, which was one of the primary causes that led to the collapse of the electoral process days before the vote.

She goes on to say that the intervention of the two Houses to rewrite the draft means contributing to its drafting while they are not authorized to do so.

"So part of the constitution would be written by the CDA and the other part by the Parliament and the HCS! It's like two groups of people meeting to write down something with no legal base."

The CDA member also outlined that opening the Constitutional Court would be a big blow for the HoR and HCS since Articles 11 and 12, which they amended, are nil for not obtaining the required quorum, and that is why they are impeding efforts to activate the court, as she put it.

Another risk of putting the constitution on a debate between the two Houses -who are often not closely aligned- is what happens if they don't reach a consensus on the draft's articles, asks Al-Massalati. There's no going back once this debate is opened, she concluded.

On February 10, the Tobruk-based Parliament (HoR) named former interior minister Fathi Bashagha as interim leader and also voted in favour of a set of constitutional amendments.

The amendments provide for the creation of a new electoral commission and the appointment of a 24-member committee representing the country’s three regions to draft a new constitution.