President Abdel Fattah El Sisi announced Saturday 06/06/2020 a new political initiative aimed at ending the conflict in Libya.

Sisi revealed the initiative during a joint press conference following a tripartite meeting held today with Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Khalifa Haftar, and Speaker of Libya's House of Representatives Aguila Saleh.

The initiative, dubbed "Cairo Declaration" stipulates that a ceasefire should start at 6 am (4 GMT) on June 8, with an adherence to all international initiatives and Security Council resolutions on the unity and territorial integrity of the Libyan land.

It also obliges all parties to remove all foreign mercenaries, dismantle militias, and hand over their weapons to allow the LNA to cooperate with other security bodies to carry out their military duty.

The initiative also stipulates the continuation of talks by the 5+5 Libyan Joint Military Commission in Geneva sponsored by the UN

The initiative calls for an intra-Libyan resolution aiming at resolving the country’s conflict based on UN resolutions and the outcome of the Berlin summit.

It also calls for restoring Libya's state institutions and setting out an adequate mechanism for resuming the political process under UN sponsorship.

The initiative further stipulates resolving the Libyan crisis by forming an elected presidential council within 90 days to ensure a fair representation of Libya’s eastern, western, and southern provinces under UN supervision.

Also, the initiative provides that Tripoli, Cyrenaica, and Fezzan shall form an electoral college grouping chosen MPs, members of the High Council of State, and tribal elders.

Based on the initiative, each province shall choose a deputy prime minister to form a presidential council comprising of a president and two deputies.

After naming a prime minister, the presidential council will form a government to refer it to the House of Representatives for a vote of confidence.

Moreover, each province shall receive a proportionate number of ministerial portfolios depending on their population after a consensus is reached on the members of the new presidential council and the appointment of a prime minister.

As per the initiative, Tripoli will receive nine ministerial portfolios, while Cyrenaica and Fezzan will hold seven and five portfolios, respectively.

The six sovereign ministries would be split between the three provinces equally, with each province holding two sovereign ministries. Two deputies are appointed from the other provinces.

Besides, the House of Representatives shall be tasked with adopting constitutional declaration amendments through a legislative committee formed by Parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh.

The committee, which would include representatives from the House of Representatives and State, would agree on any needed amendments to the declaration within 30 days from the beginning of the committee’s work.

The initiative further provides that the electoral college, selected by each province under UN supervision, shall form a committee comprising national figures and constitutional experts to draft a new constitution for the country and put it to a referendum.

The committee shall execute duties within 90 days of its formation following the parliament’s approval.

The initiative set the transitional period at 18 months, to be expanded to no more than six additional months if needed, during which all state institutions, especially principal economic ones, such as the Central Bank of Libya, the National Oil Corporation and the Libyan Investment Authority, will be reorganized.

Finally, the initiative calls for adopting all the measures necessary for unifying Libya's state economic institutions, implementing economic and structural reforms, denying terrorist militias access to Libyan funds and working for a fair distribution of resources in the Libyan society.

MENA