Inter-Libyan Talks in Bouznika: Two Parties Hold Consultation Session To Ensure Success of Political Dialogue Scheduled in Tunisia

Representatives of the electoral constituencies of the Libyan House of Representatives and the High Council of State held, on November 4 and 5, 2020, in Bouznika, a consultation session as part of efforts to ensure the success of the political dialogue scheduled this month in Tunisia. 

In a joint statement read at the end of this meeting in the presence of Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Abroad Mr. Nasser Bourita, the participants expressed “their sincere gratitude and thanks to the brotherly Kingdom of Morocco for its hospitality and the good efforts it is making to help the Libyans overcome the difficult stage that the country is going through”. 

During this meeting, emphasis was laid on “the importance of the political dialogue and our readiness to support this process and strengthen its chances of success,” the statement said. 

The two parties to the dialogue also affirmed the importance for the High Council of State and the House of Representatives “to shoulder the responsibility of maintaining the democratic path and to embodying the full Libyan ownership of the political process, with the aim of achieving the expected objectives of dialogue, on top of which the unification of state institutions and allowing the executive power to pave the way for the holding of legislative and presidential elections on a constitutional basis,” wrote the document. 

The meeting also discussed a series of questions, the most important of which is related to the mode of management of the inter-Libyan dialogue, which is a “purely Libyan property”, the statement added, noting that the two parties have agreed on the decision-making mechanisms through the political dialogue, and the legal and professional criteria for choosing the personalities holding high positions in the executive power, in addition to the priorities of the action of this power during the preliminary stage. 

This consultation session comes after two other rounds that took place in Bouznika last September and October and which focused on the criteria for holding key positions under the Libyan political agreement concluded in Skhirat in December 2015. 

It also took place after about two weeks of discussions held by Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Abroad Mr. Nasser Bourita, with the President of the Libyan High Council of State Mr. Khaled Al Mechri, and the Speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives Mr. Aguila Saleh. 

Mr. Salah had hailed, during a joint press briefing with Bourita, “the great efforts” made by the Kingdom of Morocco to support the political solution in Libya, noting that Morocco has been engaged, since the process of Skhirat, to offer the Libyan brothers all the possible opportunities to reach solutions. 

For his part, Mr. Al Mechri had emphasized, in a similar press briefing, the positive role played by the Kingdom under the leadership of H.M King Mohammed VI and its position aimed at reaching a consensus to resolve the Libyan crisis, recalling that the significant efforts made by Morocco made it possible to reach agreements in Bouznika. 

The hosting by Morocco of these meetings shows the Kingdom’s efforts to bring together the appropriate conditions and create a favorable climate to achieve a comprehensive political solution in Libya, in order to overcome the crisis in this country and achieve the aspirations of the Libyan people to build a civil and democratic state that enjoys peace, security and stability.  The “constructive and active” role of Morocco in the facilitation of the Libyan dialogue has been widely welcomed and appreciated by the Western and Arab capitals as well as by several international and regional organizations, on top of which the United Nations.