By Abdullah Alkabir, political writer and commentator
Cairo meeting, a new agreement on failure
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has fired the coup de grace on the outcomes of a group of members of the House of Representatives with about 25 members of the High Council of State in Cairo on July 18.
UNSMIL said in its statement that it “takes note of the meeting” and encourages members to “build on what has been agreed upon, by seeking an approach that includes other relevant Libyan stakeholders, to ensure that the outcomes lead to a politically implementable solution.”
However, the Cairo meeting’s outcome is not expected to bring about any change to the political scene. It was essentially a gathering of two political parties with their own vision and interests, and it was not between the House of Representatives and the High State Council, even if those meetings were members of both chambers.
The two chambers have no genuine existence or effectiveness, except in the light of adherence to the Constitutional Declaration, the Political Accord, and the Rules of Procedure, without which, they turn into a mere two or several political parties that are rather closer to parties or blocs, driven by their own interests and goals. These are different and contradictory to the interests and goals of other parties, that have influence or representation in the legislative authority. It perhaps does not have any influence or representation in the two chambers, but it does have power, authority, and money. This fact may not have been realized by members of the two chambers despite their many meetings on different tracks and issues.
Therefore, it is not an exaggeration, if the Cairo meeting is described as a meeting of political parties or even civil society organizations. Perhaps UNSMIL’s statement regarding an approach that includes other concerned Libyan parties confirms our conclusion, and even says without ambiguity that there are other concerned Libyan parties that must be involved, otherwise the outcomes of their meeting will not find their way to implementation.
What it meant by the other parties is the active forces on the ground, east and west, because of their power, influence, and ability to undermine any political agreement, as well as the Government of National Unity, which has become a political party that cannot be transcended except after the two houses returning to the normal path, that is, working through the texts of the Constitutional Declaration and the Political Accord. Only in such cases, the government may return to its status as an executive body that can be changed by mechanisms spelled out in the Constitutional Declaration and the Political Accord.
The Cairo meeting and the welcome by Agila Saleh, Speaker of the House of Representatives, of its outcomes, and his announcement of the start of accepting applications to run for prime minister position, indicate the failure of his recent decision to pass the budget. For what is the rationale behind resorting to forming a unified government if the budget will be disbursed and the parallel government will get its share?
The issue of building on what has been agreed, which UNSMIL called for in its statement about the meeting, requires the involvement of a broad political spectrum that cannot be transcended to ensure the success of any agreement on change. The other condition is that the path to elections be clear, but the parties to the meeting are members of parliament and High Council of state do not seek to solve the crisis, but rather they are obstructing the means of solution in order to continue obtaining their high salaries and other privileges they enjoy, which they will lose if genuine elections are held.
All these meetings and dialogues between the presidency of the two houses, the members, or their joint committees, are merely rotations in the same circle. The starting point is the same as the endpoint, and no progress will be made towards a political solution. This solution will not be achieved in the light of the current international circumstances except with the national will that goes directly towards only parliamentary elections, as unifying legislative authority is the beginning of the path, and any other path will be just a new formulation that is different only in form of the current political scene.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Libya Observer
