Libya: Deal reached between rival factions on reshaping Presidential Council

Libya parliament member Saleh Afhima told Al Arabiya English that an agreement has been reached between the warring factions to reconstitute the Presidential Council with two presidents and two vice presidents representing the three Libyan provinces, instead of the current 9 members.

Afhima said: “The parliament’s Dialogue Committee reached an agreement this week with the members of the committee represented by the Council of State on the date of the selection of the new presidential council, which the parliament stipulated before mid-October through an agreed mechanism upon sharing of posts by region.”

He added that parallel to the process of forming the new presidential council, “a referendum on the draft constitution” will be held in order to “prepare for the organization of parliamentary and presidential elections,” ruling out that this will happen before the end of this year.

Libya has been in a state of political turmoil for years, with a government in the East and another in the West, resulting in an ongoing conflict between political and military parties to control power, sovereign institutions and oil wealth.