UN's Martin Kobler welcomes announcement that HoR will vote on GNA

Martin Kobler, the Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) has issued a press release welcoming a meeting in Cairo of the president of the Tobruk-based House of Representatives (HoR) and two of his deputies.

Kobler also urged that the HoR vote on the UN-brokered Government of National Accord (GNA). He commended the leadership for showing determination to unite ranks and assume its responsibilities "towards the Libyan people":

"The House of Representatives remains central to the political process and to the implementation of the Libyan Political Agreement. There should be no doubt in anyone's mind about this,”

There should be doubt in people's minds because when Kobler could not get a formal vote from the HoR he simply bypassed them and arranged for the GNA to be activated without a confidence vote:The GNA declared itself up and running without a vote of confidence from the HoR. It used the letter signed by an alleged majority of the HoR supporting the GNA and a meeting with the political dialogue as a green light to go ahead and move to Tripoli. It is gathering support and gaining control without any HoR vote. The GNA needs to vote to placate Haftar and the HoR and bring them on board and also to serve as the legislature of the GNA.

It is central in that it is the legislature of the GNA and also if it does not vote there are threats that eastern Libya will separate.

Kobler said that the HoR should take immediate steps to convene and vote on the GNA: "A positive endorsement by the HoR will be key to facilitating a peaceful and orderly transfer of executive authority.” The leaders said that they would meet and vote at the latest on Monday the 19th of April. As I have already noticed often what is most important in Kobler's releases is what he does not mention.

The Libya Herald reports on Kobler's release and does notice what is left out:Kobler did not however comment on Shouaib’s demand in Cairo that EU sanctions against Saleh must be lifted, nor his protest that the State Council should not have come into being before the LPA had been ratified by parliament.

The Herald also leaves out important parts of what Shouaib, one of the deputies of the HoR, said: Shouaib also announced that there would be a session of the Libya Dialogue team next Thursday at which the violations of the LPA, in particular the meeting of the State Council of the GNA last Tuesday in a Tripoli hotel and election of top officials of the State Council, would be discussed.I expect that the HoR will have difficulty in arranging any such meeting as Kobler may very well fear the results.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/politics/op-ed-kobler-welcomes-cairo-meeting-and-planned-vote-by-hor/article/462470#ixzz45ehGnZua