Libyan assembly delays session on constitution bill

By Jihad Nasr

TRIPOLI (AA) – East Libya-based parliament on Tuesday adjourned for two weeks a session to vote on whether or not to hold a popular referendum on a new constitution.

“Today’s session has been adjourned for two weeks to allow more discussion on the proposed referendum,” Assembly Speaker Aqila Saleh told lawmakers.

She, however, did not give a specific date for holding the upcoming session.

The assembly had held a closed-session earlier Tuesday to discuss a bill for holding the constitutional referendum, before the session was adjourned.

A UN-proposed roadmap for Libya, unveiled earlier this year, calls for presidential and parliamentary elections and a popular referendum on a new national charter.

Libya has been dogged by turmoil since 2011, when a bloody NATO-backed uprising led to the death of strongman Muammar Gaddafi after more than four decades in power.

Since then, Libya’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of power -- one in Tobruk and another in Tripoli -- and a host of heavily-armed militia groups.