• Libya’s east-based parliament and High Council of State concluded their final round of negotiations on constitutional amendments for elections on Sunday night in Cairo.
• The most contentious issue was the criteria for presidential candidacy, with the Tripoli-based council demanding that military men not be allowed to run.
• The talks started on June 12 with the goal of setting up a constitutional framework for elections in Libya.

CAIRO: The United Nations reported on Monday that rival Libyan factions failed to achieve an agreement, the third round of UN-mediated discussions in Egypt.

This further complicated international efforts to find a solution to Libya’s decade-long crisis.

As per Stephanie Williams, the UN special adviser on Libya, lawmakers from Libya’s east-based parliament and the High Council of State, based in Tripoli in the country’s west, concluded their final round of negotiations on constitutional amendments for elections on Sunday night in Cairo without reaching an agreement.

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However, William said in a statement that “the measures governing the transitional period” leading up to the election were not agreed upon.

She urged Aguila Saleh, the prominent parliament speaker, and Khaled Al-Meshri, the Tripoli-based council chief, to meet within ten days in an effort to heal the divide between the two factions. She did not expand.

As per Libyan media reports, the most contentious issue was the criteria for presidential candidacy.

The Tripoli-based council asked that military people not be allowed to run for the highest office in the country. This seemed to be aimed at commander Khalifa Haftar, a military leader who has caused a lot of trouble.

Haftar had declared his candidacy in the December 2017 elections. This election was cancelled for a variety of reasons, including controverted candidates and conflicts over election laws.

During the negotiations in Cairo, the eastern legislators demanded that military men be allowed to run in the forthcoming election.

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