Libyan rivals arrive in Morocco to agree on joint committee's laws for elections

TRIPOLI, Libya

Libya's Parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh and the head of the High Council of State, Khaled al-Mishri, arrived in the Moroccan city of Bouznika to sign an agreement by a joint committee for the preparation of election laws, an informed Libyan source said Monday.

The 6+6 Joint Committee was formed in March by six members each from the Libyan House of Representatives and the High State Council for the purpose of preparing the electoral laws.

The committee began talks in Bouznika with the goal of drafting laws to organize legislative and presidential elections in 2023 in accordance with a roadmap announced by UN Special Envoy Abdoulaye Bathily at the end of February.

Speaking to Anadolu, the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Bathily will not attend the signing ceremony on Tuesday.

He also noted that he had strict instructions not to reveal any of the outcomes regarding the electoral laws agreed on by the 6+6 committee in order not to jeopardize the signing ceremony.

The committee announced on May 24 that it had reached understandings during a meeting in Morocco to start finalizing election laws in order to hold polls.

However, 54 members of the High Council of State and 61 parliamentarians announced their rejection of the outcomes of the committee.

Libya has been torn by civil war and instability since the ouster of longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar