The Head of the High Council of State (HCS) Khalid Al-Mishri, said that the 13th amendment to the constitutional declaration issued by the House of Representatives (HoR) recently did not come overnight, but rather, it was the result of lengthy consultations between the two chambers, pointing out that this amendment "immunizes the upcoming elections against any constitutional appeals". Al-Mishri added that some of those who now reject the presidential system ran for office during the presidential elections that were scheduled for December 24, 2021, asking, "Does the momentum accompanying these elections not signify popular acceptance?" He also indicated that the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily, proposed that the UN Support Mission in Libya forms a high-level committee for elections concerned with completing electoral laws. The HoR published last Thursday the 13th amendment to the Constitutional Declaration in the fourth issue of the Official Gazette, including 34 articles, after it had approved it on February 07. By doing so, the HoR did not pay any attention to the political agreement that requires the parliament to agree with the HCS when making any constitutional amendments, knowing that the latter was unable to hold a session to discuss the amendment.

Source: Libya Observer February 26, 2023 22:32 UTC