Representatives of the Libyan 6+6 Committee, meeting at the Bouznika resort near Morocco's capital Rabat late Tuesday, announced that they have overcome several points of contention regarding the laws governing presidential and legislative elections in Libya. They added that they will meet again in Morocco soon to officially sign this agreement. Omar Abu Lifa, a member of the Libyan State Council, told reporters, "We debated for about ten days or more in the Kingdom of Morocco, discussed all the details, and concluded an agreement on all points of difference. Two laws were enacted; the first pertains to the legislative authority, and we also agreed on the law for electing the President of the State." He added, "All outstanding points were agreed upon with complete consensus, and everything we accomplished was signed with free, conscious will without coercion or pressure."
The discussions of the 6+6 Committee, formed from the House of Representatives and the High Council of State, began at the Bouznika resort on May 22, aiming to resolve disputes over the laws governing presidential and parliamentary elections in Libya. Among the contentious points was the clause regarding military personnel and dual nationals running for office, and Abu Lifa did not clarify whether the consensus among committee members included this point.
Jalal Al-Shuwihdi, a member of the Libyan House of Representatives, told reporters, "The House of Representatives and the State Council Committee reached a consensus on the presidential election law and the parliamentary election law." He added, "We are awaiting in the coming days the presence of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the State Council to sign or finalize the agreement regarding this law." He noted, "All discussions occurred among committee members, and we faced no external interference."
For his part, Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Nasser Bourita stated that the agreement is "an important milestone because the two councils are... qualified to engage in these matters related to the necessary rules for organizing elections." He added that "the councils, through the 6+6 Committee, were operating within the framework of their defined tasks in the political agreement signed in Skhirat in 2016."
Previously, Morocco hosted rounds of Libyan dialogue that culminated in the agreement on sovereign positions in January 2021, and also facilitated a meeting between delegations from the High Council of State and the House of Representatives regarding the election law in September 2021. Additionally, Skhirat, near Rabat, was the location of a UN-sponsored political agreement in 2015 between conflict parties in Libya to end the civil war there.
