The House of Representatives (HoR) session that approved the constitutional referendum bill was contested at the Supreme Court in Tripoli Wednesday.
Members of the Libyan Constitution Drafting Assembly (CDA) and the House of Representatives (HoR) appealed to the court against the Nov. 26 session which amended Article 6 of the draft.
The amended article stipulates that Libya should be divided into three electoral districts in Fezzan, Tripolitania and Cyrenaica instead of one, with the requirement that voters in each district are at least 50 percent+one of those registered, and of those 50 percent+one must vote for the constitution in order to pass.
Prior to the amendment, Libya was been treated as one voting district by the Transitional Constitution.
However, this session raised controversy, as any amendment to the constitutional declaration requires a vote of no less than 120 members of parliament, while those who attended said session and voted on the amendment did not exceed 105 members.
Hence, several MPs and the High State Council (HSC) considered the referendum law “unconstitutional.” Setting a constitution is essential for Libya’s next step: an election that ends division between rival parties.
The amendment made by the HoR to the referendum law is “unconstitutional” and violates the political agreement, head of the HCS Khaled al-Mishri said in late November during a press conference held after the 36th session of the HCS.
The HCS, Which advise us both the Government of National Accord and the HoR, also objected to Article 6.
A 47-member Constitutional Drafting Authority (CDA) was formed in 2014 to draft a new constitution in hopes to reach stability in the country.
The Amazigh minority boycotted the authority to demand more rights in the constitution.
Alongside the objection to the Article 6, there was also disagreement on what constituted a quorum for the referendum bill. Some members insisted that an election-related bill needs a quorum of 120 members. Others believed that only 50 percent of members plus one were needed for a quorum, according to Libya Herald.
The bill also proposed that if Libyans rejected the draft constitution in the referendum, the democratically elected CDA would be dissolved and the HoR would select a new 30-strong drafting committee to propose a new draft.
Additionally, the Elders Council, military and civil officials, Amazigh and Tubu tribes in Jadu city announced they will boycott the upcoming constitutional referendum for failing to recognize the Amazigh people’s rights.
A Sunday statement said the Elders Council of Jadu, a mountainous town in western Libya, denounced the marginalization and exclusion of the Amazigh people from drafting the constitution, whose draft does not recognize their language.
It added that a new Libya can only be founded on equality amongst all Libyans without discrimination based on race, language, color or religion.
