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The Electoral Commission rejects what it described as allegations of its failure to implement the referendum law on the draft constitution.

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Tripoli, January 4, 2025 (LANA) – The High National Elections Commission (HNEC) rejected what it described as allegations that the Commission was not adhering to the referendum law on the draft constitution, considering them an attempt to undermine public confidence in this institution, which enjoys the consensus of all Libyans.

In a statement issued today, Sunday, the HNEC Board affirmed that it was in no way involved in obstructing the referendum on the draft constitution. It stated that resuming the referendum process requires adherence to the tenth and twelfth constitutional amendments and the agreement of all political parties to proceed. The HNEC Board emphasized that it will spare no effort to ensure the implementation of this constitutional requirement.

The Council's statement detailed the actions taken by the Commission with relevant parties that led to the obstruction of its efforts to implement the constitutional referendum. These actions included:

- The House of Representatives issued Amendment No. (10) on November 26, 2018, based on which Law No. (6) of 2018 concerning the referendum on the draft permanent constitution of the country was issued on November 27, 2018.

- The aforementioned law was referred to the Commission on November 28, 2018, and the Commission's Board commenced a technical review of the articles of the law as a preliminary step towards issuing implementing regulations and initiating the implementation process.

- On December 12, 2018, the Commission's Board received a letter from the State Council, reference number 1.2018/58, demanding that the Commission immediately halt the implementation of the referendum law issued by the House of Representatives.

- Due to the existing constitutional relationship between the legislative and electoral authorities, the Commission did not respond to the contents of the aforementioned letter. After completing its technical review of the provisions of the law in question, the Commission requested the House of Representatives to amend certain articles therein, as per its letter dated January 9, 2019.

- The House of Representatives issued Law No. (1) of 2019 amending certain provisions of Law No. (6), and it was referred to the Commission for implementation on January 29, 2019. Accordingly, the Commission issued the regulatory bylaws and executive procedures for implementing the referendum law.

- The High National Elections Commission (HNEC) submitted a request to the Government of National Accord (GNA) for the allocation of 40 million Libyan dinars to cover the costs associated with conducting the referendum, as per letter number 0146 dated December 3, 2018.

- The head of the GNA refused to fund the referendum in an official meeting that included the Chairman of the HNEC and the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The meeting concluded that the reasons given for the refusal were unconvincing to both the Chairman of the HNEC and the Deputy Special Representative.

Both the High Council of State and the GNA have rejected the HNEC's efforts to conduct the constitutional referendum, as mandated by the relevant law. All attempts to persuade the obstructing parties to reverse their decision to refuse the referendum have ceased.

On March 21, 2022, the Twelfth Constitutional Amendment of 2022 was issued, which included the formation of a committee to review the contentious articles in the draft constitution and the referendum law. It stipulated that the amended draft constitution be referred directly to the High National Elections Commission (HNEC) for a referendum.

The aforementioned committee failed to achieve its objective of reaching an agreement on amending the draft constitution, and the HNEC has not yet received the amended draft constitution to resume the referendum process as mandated by the law.

This chronological account of events related to the referendum on the draft constitution clearly demonstrates that the HNEC was in no way involved in obstructing the referendum. Returning to the referendum process requires revisiting the Tenth and Twelfth Constitutional Amendments and the agreement of the political parties to proceed along this path. The HNEC will spare no effort to ensure the implementation of this requirement.

...(LANA)...