Libyan dialogue on the constitution

This week, a wide range of Libyan civil society organisations met with several members of the constituent assembly writing the country’s future constitution. The meeting provided important input to the constituent assembly as well as laying the groundwork for future mechanisms to securing public consultation within the drafting process.

“The first step towards building a new Libya is writing a good, robust constitution. Hence, it is very important to us to receive expert advice from civil society on the drafting process, consolidating our belief that we are on the right track,” Dr. Ibrahim F. ElBaba, chairman of the Local Government Committee in the Libyan Constituent Assembly said.

The meeting was arranged by The MERIT Network for Democracy and the Rule of Law in partnership with the Danish Institute for Human Rights. The MERIT members brought up issues ranging from securing youth empowerment to important technicalities as the right to dual citizenship.

“We need people with dual citizenship to bring Libya forward. Forcing them to drop their second citizenship will keep some from engaging in the development of our country,” NadiaJaouda of the Libyan Heritage Multicultural Organisation argued.

Countering instability

The workshop counters the dominant narrative emerging out of Libya: Two governments are competing for power and legitimacy, terrorist attacks are on the rise and the country is a long way from the prosperity imagined after the toppling of Gaddafi’s regime in 2011.

Working through the difficult circumstances, the Libyan Constituent Assembly, elected by popular vote, presented its first draft for a future constitution in December 2014. Now, the constitution is to go through a period of public consultation – a huge task, considering the current situation.

“It is all but impossible to conduct a traditional public consultation of the draft constitution given the current situation. But by bringing civil society human rights advocates together with the constituent assembly, we hope to establish a best practice we can expand and further in the future,” Niklas Kabel Pedersen, Programme Manager for the Middle East and North Africa programme at the Danish Institute for Human Rights explains.

Prior to the meeting, the Danish Institute for Human Rights conducted a training of the MERIT members on the principles of public consultation in relation to legislative and constitutional drafting processes, as well as methods of writing official recommendations.

“Obviously, this is to be seen as investing in the Libyan future. These are the first important steps in setting up sustainable, democratic mechanisms for the future,” Niklas Kabel Pedersen said.

At the end of the meeting it was decided, that the Danish Institute for Human Rights will conduct a seminar on internal democratic decision making processes for the members of the constituent assembly in the future.

The Libyan activities of Danish Institute for Human Rights is supported by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and part of the Danish Arab Partnership Programme.