The Tebu and Tuareg members of the Constitution Drafting Assembly (CDA) who have boycotted its proceedings for the past seven months but are taking part in its informal meetings in Oman have demanded that their languages be made official in the constitution and that they each have three members in all executive and legislative bodies in the country.
They also want the constitution to define Libya not as an Arab country but as a North African one, the Libya Herald has been told.
The demand relating to appointments would, if implemented, see three Tebu and three Tuareg members appointed to the cabinet and to both houses of parliament.
Two days ago, some 30 members of the CDA meeting in Oman under the sponsorship of UNSMIL met the four Tebu and Tuareg boycotters to discuss their demands.
However, despite some apparent agreement in Tuesday’s meeting, Khalid Wahali, one of the two Tebu members, has expressed extreme wariness about any real progress.
The talks, he said, meant nothing in reality. They were not official and not binding on the CDA.
Given that the CDA’s other boycotters are wholly opposed to regional allocations (as are several of other members), it looks unlikely that if and when the entire CDA formally reconvenes there will be the required two-thirds majority to include the Tebu and Tuareg demands in the draft constitution.
By Libya Herald correspondent.
