Tripoli Parliament Proposes Libya Presidential Council

Libya's Tripoli-based General National Congress (parliament) on Saturday proposed the transfer of legislative power in the war-torn country to a presidential council suggested by the United Nations.



The congress said the proposed presidential council would be tasked with tackling political and state issues.



"This proposal can be deferred in case an agreement on the legislative authority is not reached [during the talks in Morocco]," congress member Mohamed Mezeb said.



He said legislative power could be handed over to the presidential council, while the congress and the Tobruk-based House of Representative continued to function until their mandates came to an end.



The mandate of the House of Representatives is expected to expire in October, while the mandate of the congress had already expired almost a year ago.



Mezeb said the delegation of the congress in the UN-sponsored talks would return to Tripoli soon to update other congress members on the outcome of the talks.



Libya's political rivals are currently involved in United Nations-sponsored dialogue talks in Morocco.



The oil-rich North African state has remained in a state of turmoil since a bloody uprising ended the decades-long rule of strongman Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.



Since then, the country's stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of government, each with its own institutions and military capacities.



Vying for legislative authority are the Tobruk-based House of Representatives and the Islamist-led General National Congress, which convenes in Tripoli.



The two assemblies support two rival governments respectively headquartered in the two cities.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Rabat