Talks between the Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi, Commander-in-Chief of the Libyan Armed Forces Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar and Speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives Aqilla Saleh concluded here Saturday in declaring a political initiative. Accordingly, all parties shall commit to a cease-fire beginning from Monday based on the outputs of Berlin Summit, which produced a comprehensive political solution for the Libyan conflict — including executive steps and human rights. It calls on the UN and international community to force all foreign parties to withdraw mercenaries form the entire Libyan territories, dismantling all militias and handing over their weapons to the Armed Forces (the National Libyan Army). It also called on parties to shoulder their military role in cooperation with other security apparatuses in a way that would lay the ground for it to combat terrorism and maintain Libyan sovereignty over land, marine and airspace. The initiative aims at restoring the national institutions of the Libyan state and defines an appropriate national mechanism to revive the political process, under the sponsorship of the UN. Among the items of the initiative is to empower the Presidential Council to take decisions by majority, except in regard of sovereign decisions related to the armed forces, which shall be taken unanimously. All three regions of Libya shall have equitable representation in the Presidential Council and a deputy premier based on qualification, in order to set up a 3-member Presidential Council comprising a president and two vice presidents. The council shall name the Prime Minister who will form the government, with his two deputies and submit it to the Presidential Council prior to sending the proposal to the House of Representatives, to secure a vote of confidence. The UN will have an overseeing role on the electoral colleges, in general, to guarantee fair election process for the members of the Presidential Council representing the 3-regions and fair portfolios for the regions, in the Cabinet, in accordance with each region's population. The agreement on the members of the new Presidential Council and nominating of the Premier precludes that no region shall simultaneously preside over the three powers: the Presidential Council, House of Representatives and the Council of Ministers. — SPA
