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Libya’s rival legislative chambers welcomed Türkiye’s offer to host talks aimed at reviving a long-inactive committee tasked with drafting election laws, according to a joint statement issued after a meeting in Ankara.
The House of Representatives in Benghazi and the High Council of State in Tripoli, which serves as the upper chamber of parliament, said they welcomed the activation of the “6+6 committee” following talks in the Turkish capital.
The statement came after House of Representatives Speaker Aguila Saleh and High Council of State President Mohammed Takala met with National Intelligence Organization (MIT) chief Ibrahim Kalin in Ankara.
Kalin met Thursday with Saleh and Takala to discuss developments in Libya and the region, steps to further Libya-Türkiye cooperation, and ongoing efforts to achieve political and military unity in Libya and maintain stability, according to security sources.
The talks also addressed ways to achieve lasting progress on long-unresolved issues and reach a broad consensus among all parties.
The leading roles of the House of Representatives and the High Council of State in establishing stability and advancing the political process were underlined.
The parties agreed on the objectives of achieving political unity and unifying state institutions.
The holding of Libyan presidential and parliamentary elections, resolving disputes over the executive authority, and achieving full integration in the military and political spheres have long been under discussion.
However, despite initiatives by various parties, no solution has been reached.
The meeting in Ankara is considered significant, as it marked the first time the heads of the two institutions came together in Türkiye to discuss these issues and made concrete progress on processes that had been at an impasse.
The two chambers said Libya’s political process should proceed within the framework of the Libyan Political Agreement, which regulates their work.
They also emphasized that the powers of both chambers should be respected.
“The two chambers appreciate the efforts of the brotherly Republic of Türkiye and its readiness to host the ‘6+6 Committee’ in the coming days, to enable the committee to complete and finalize its duties regarding election laws, thus paving the way for the transition to the electoral process,” the statement said.
The chambers stressed the need to hold elections in Libya, unify the executive authority and end the country’s institutional division.
The statement also said Saleh had received a letter from Takala regarding the formation of the High National Election Commission and that the letter would be submitted to parliament.
The 6+6 committee, named because it consists of six members each from the House of Representatives and the High Council of State, was established in June 2023 to draft laws that would lead the country to elections.
The committee met several times, but no agreement was reached between the two chambers, particularly over whether soldiers and people with dual citizenship could run in elections.
The dispute between the Benghazi-based House of Representatives and the Tripoli-based High Council of State over election laws has prevented elections from being held for 12 years, prolonged the transition process and rendered the committee dysfunctional.
General elections in Libya were last held in 2014.
Presidential and parliamentary elections have not been held since because of the country’s civil war and disagreements between the parties over election laws.
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