Deputy president of HoR clarifies decisions made a Cairo meeting

Emhemed Shouaib, Deputy House of Representatives (HoR) president, issued a statement clarifiying what was agreed upon at a recent meeting in Cairo between himself another deputy president and Ageela Salah the president of the HoR.

Shouaib noted that there had been considerable speculation on what had been agreed to both on regular and social media indicating outcomes that went far beyond what was actually agreed to at the meeting. The Libya Herald says the Cairo meeting was seen as pivotal in keeping progress towards implementing the Libya Political Agreement on track.The paper claims this is especially so after the controversial meeting of the State Council last week which the Herald notes many see as premature and unconstitutional.

Shouaib said:"In view of what is being wrongly broadcast in some media and shared on social media regarding the meeting that took place in Cairo between House of Representatives (HoR) president Ageela Salah, Second Deputy president Hameed Homa and myself, I would like to clarify what was agreed upon and presented at the ensuing Cairo press conference’’.

Shouaib detailed a five-point agenda that would be put to the HoR next week He did not specify a specific date. Some reports indicate that the latest the HoR would convene for a vote was April 18th which is next Monday.

The first item on the agenda was a vote of confidence in the proposed ministers of the GNA. Shouaib did not indicate whether the vote would be for all together or each separately as some have suggested. The second item was to make the appropriate amendment to the Transitional Constitutional Declaration of 2011. The GNC meeting at Tripoli also made such an amendment before it dissolved although many doubt that it could do so. Third, the head of the UN Support MIssion in Libya was to call a meeting of the Libya Dialogue Committee to discuss recent events. In particular the claim that the State Council was officially constituted at the recent meeting in Tripoli. He, Salah and the other deputy all consider the meeting a violation of the LPA under article 64. In Kobler's press release on the meeting, he makes no mention of any meeting of the Dialogue Committee to consider the issue of the State Council. Fathi Bashagha, an HoR member who has been boycotting meetings said that a meeting of the Dialogue Committee to discuss the formation of the State Council could worsen the crisis. We will see what happens on Thursday. If it does not happen there could be a negative reaction from the HoR which could perhaps sabotage the planned meeting for next week.

The fourth item on the agenda would be to denounce the sanctions issued by the EU against Ageela Salah president of the HoR and a demand to work on lifting them. There is no mention of the sanctions against two officials of the rival General National Congress. Again, Kobler makes no mention of this issue in his release. Finally there is a general demand that the Presidency Council/GNA consult with the leadership of the HoR. Perhaps this demand comes as a result of the recent meeting that formed the State Council. Apparently, the HoR was not consulted about it. We should know later this week if there will be progress towards having the HoR vote confidence in the GNA or if there will be a continuing crisis.