Rafik Hariri Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Mohamed Eljarh writes for Foreign Policy on the role Libya’s Constituent Assembly is likely to play in the country’s ongoing conflict:
Libya is in a sorry state. Fighting continues at the extremist-controlled international airport in Tripoli, which the Libyan air force attacked last week. City centers are still embroiled in conflict, and earlier this month, the country’s Supreme Court dissolved the country’s internationally recognized parliament. Now, two rival prime ministers are squaring off, beating the drums of war, fighting over control of the capital, Tripoli. The country, which has for months been the site of military confrontation against a background of political infighting, is nearing the point of no return.
Amid this chaos, the Constituent Assembly, which has been quietly drafting a new constitution from its home in al-Baida, is now facing pressure to intervene in the ongoing political struggle. In this environment of toxic division and worsening security, Libya has few options left — and they all come with serious risks.