HoR vows more ‘friendly consensus’ with HCS

The House of Representatives’ (HoR) Speaker Aqila Saleh said that consensus will be made on state sovereign positions in the few coming days with the High Council of State (HCS), especially since there is a common ground between the two chambers.

Saleh said in a press conference in Cairo on Monday that sovereign positions are under the HoR as they are considered the oversight of the executive authority, so dismissing or confirming these incumbents is within the HoR’s authority.

He said he would meet with the Head of the HCS, Khalid Al-Mishri, and the UN envoy, Abdoulaye Bathily, in Cairo, and that the main goal behind the consultations is to secure holding elections as soon as possible, calling on the UN envoy to invite the constitutional track committees in the HoR and HCS to complete the constitutional consultations.

Saleh said that the political agreement provides for consultation with the HCS on sovereign positions, adding that they had consulted with them more than a year ago in Bouznika and agreed to change the incumbents. He added that they carried out their duties and sent files to be sorted by the HCS to send them back to the HoR to elect the incumbents for the sovereign positions.

He referred to what he described as “the HCS’s delay in sending the lists of candidates,” adding that they met in Morocco and agreed to activate the Bouznika Agreement, saying he thinks there is a consensus that will take place in the coming days on these positions.

Regarding the Government of National Unity, Saleh said its term of 18 months expired, adding that it was selected for specific tasks: national reconciliation, elections, unifying institutions and providing services for citizens, but it has failed miserably in these tasks.