Procrastination still looms over the restructuring of Libya’s increasingly complex political scene –  the most prominent feature at this stage being demands. Each party is urging the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) to meet its demands as a condition for approving the formation of the Government of National Accord (GNA). The UNSMIL however will not get very far if it considers these demands.

Constitutional amendment comes first

Procrastination still looms over the restructuring of Libya’s increasingly complex political scene –  the most prominent feature at this stage being demands. Each party is urging the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) to meet its demands as a condition for approving the formation of the Government of National Accord (GNA). The UNSMIL however will not get very far if it considers these demands.

Constitutional amendment comes first

“Only the Council of Deputies – CoD – can approve the GNA,” says Aguila Saleh, CoD President. “The Constitution however should be amended first.”

Requiring the approval of over 124 deputies, the Constitutional amendment should provide for the incorporation of the political agreement in the constitutional declaration issued by the National Transitional Council that came to power during the 2011 revolution. It should also revoke any article that violates the agreement.

The CoD however has not yet succeeded in holding a quorum meeting to decide on the GNA because many council members have been residing in either Tunisia or in Egypt. The small number of members who attended only had consultative meetings and took pictures with the speaker, which constituted a message, Saleh explained last Tuesday when he, through his media counselor, invited absent deputies to join them.

Crisis of confidence

Deputy Abdussalam Nassya argues that there is a crisis of confidence among deputies due to power sharing, which is why there have been no quorum meetings. Some, he says, believe that attending a meeting will make them lose some of their winning cards they are using to achieve certain gains, while others benefit from the cancelation of meetings to settle certain issues.

Nassya believes that the government is only one part of the project of the state, and that Libya’s problem lies not in the authority but in the state, which has been absent for three years now. Besides, political elites have only sought power and power sharing. “Should we reclaim the state, we will be able to form any government we want,” he says.

Terms of Cyrenaica

Establishing a government with this concept is disrupted by continuous demands, mostly by the deputies of Cyrenaica in addition to its Sheikhs who met with the head of the UNSMIL in the presence of Saleh.

Following a meeting held in Tunisia last week, council members for Cyrenaica demanded the implementation of terms and conditions described by media as “impossible” in exchange for approving the GNA. Major among these conditions are giving Cyrenaica deputies the right to veto any government decision and to choose ministers, deputy ministers and incumbents of all leadership positions.

They also demanded non-modification of any previous decisions by the CoD, a guarantee for Benghazi reconstruction, the creation of a Benghazi-based Libya Reconstruction Authority which should report to a Cyrenaic deputy prime minister, and the appointment of two Cyrenaic deputy prime ministers – one for services and reconstruction, while the other for military affairs – who should also be members of the board of trustees of the Libyan Investment Authority.

The deputies of Cyrenaica also stipulated that they would only approve a government with all its portfolios assigned, no deputies boycotting CoD meetings could participate in the vote on the government, and that during the vote meeting the governor of the Central Bank of Libya should be appointed from Benghazi.

Councilmember Saltana Mesmari says these terms were conveyed to head of the GNA Presidential Council (PC) Fayez Sarraj. There have been no official reactions regarding the terms. However, leaks suggest differences within the PC that have pushed the two deputies for Cyrenaica to threaten withdrawal from the PC without further elaboration.

Sheikhs too

Elders and sheikhs of Cyrenaica tribes also sought to participate in the political agreement, which gave GNA-opposing deputies room to maneuver. The sheikhs held a meeting with Saleh in Wasita, west of Tobruk. The latter did not object to the nine conditions they set, including not to touch the military establishment or its leadership, remove the arming embargo on the Libyan army, protect the government from the Ministry of Interior, not to form bodies parallel to the military institution, and equal distribution of ministerial portfolios among the three regions.

While some counterparties find these conditions impossible, Deputy Tareq Jroushi says they are indefeasible.

Dilemma

Perhaps the greatest fear of those refusing to approve the GNA is the future of the army leaders, especially the leaders of Karama Battle, led by General Commander General Khalifa Haftar. The political agreement vests the powers of the general commander of the army in the PC, and also gives the PC the power to appoint and dismiss the incumbents of all military leaderships and sovereign positions.

Deputy Ossama She’afi maintains that pro-GNA supporters see Saleh as an obstacle to approving the GNA. The reason that no quorum meeting has been held, says She’afi, “is because CoD chairmanship, especially Saleh, is inflexible.”

She’afi is surprised at how dialogue was the only topic discussed by the CoD for nine months, and when dialogue came to the point of creating a GNA “the speaker deliberately refrained from resolving matters in the democratic way set forth in the bylaw, a majority vote.”

Last call

Writer and political analyst Idris Ameen says Martin Kobler’s visit to Cyrene and Tripoli was a last call for those opposing the agreement to join it. The UN, says Ameen, wants to get as many votes on the political agreement and the GNA as soon as possible, and they want to use all available means to hear and address objections.

“The UN believes that desperate times call for desperate measures,” says Ameen. “But they are not willing to resort to such measures unless necessary.”

He believes that Kobler’s visit to Cyrene was positive because it at least pushed Saleh to discuss and approve the agreement, though indirectly, while the Tripoli-based General National Congress insisted on rejecting it. “This will open the door to sanctions and other means of pressure that might lead to military confrontation with those controlling Tripoli,” says Ameen.

Pro-GNA supporters, says She’afi, believe that they have a last card to play should Saleh continued with his intransigence. They are willing to hold a voting session to change the speaker, amend the by-law and reshuffle CoD committees.