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United Nations, Dec. 17 (AP) — The U.N. special envoy for Libya warned Friday that the embattled North African country was showing clear signs of division and urged influential countries to pressure Libya’s rival leaders to Urgently hammer out the constitutional basis for elections.
Abdoulaye Bathily said the one-year anniversary of the postponement of the vote would come later in December, stressing that if there was no solution, another way should be found to hold the election.
Oil-rich Libya was thrown into chaos after a 2011 NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi. In the ensuing chaos, the county was split into two competing governments, each backed by different rogue militias and foreign governments.
Bathily told the U.N. Security Council of ongoing differences between the two rivals — specifically, Aguila Saleh, speaker of the parliament in eastern Libya, and Khaled al-Khalid, head of the High Council of State in the west of the country. Tripoli, the capital of Khaled al-Mashri – A limited clause in the constitution “can no longer justify the seizure of an entire country”.
Should the two agencies fail to reach an agreement quickly, Bathily said “alternative mechanisms” could and should be used to “alleviate the pain caused by outdated and open-ended ad hoc political arrangements.” He did not elaborate on what that mechanism might be.
Bathily also said the Council needed to “think creatively about how to ensure that free, fair, transparent and simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections are organized and conducted under a single, unitary and neutral government, and that those who wish to stand as candidates resign from the Their current function is to create a level playing field.”
Libya’s latest political crisis stems from the failure to hold elections on December 24, 2021, and the refusal of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Debeba, who leads the transitional government in Tripoli, to step down. The eastern-based Libyan parliament then deemed Dbeibah’s term to end on Dec. 24 and appointed rival prime minister Fathy Bashagha, who had been trying unsuccessfully for months to install his government in Tripoli.
The presidential vote has been delayed amid disputes between rival factions over electoral laws and a contested presidential candidate. The Tripoli-based committee insists that military personnel and dual citizens are barred from running for the country’s top office.
This was clearly aimed at Khalifa Hifter, the East-backed military leader, a divisive commander and US citizen who has declared his candidacy in the canceled December elections.
Individuals and entities that “prevent or disrupt the holding of elections” must be held accountable, Bathily said, stressing that “this applies to conduct before, during and after elections.”
He warned that Libya’s unresolved political crisis “affects people’s well-being, endangers their security and threatens their very existence.”
There are many signs of disintegration in Libya — including two parallel governments in the east and west, separate security operations, a divided central bank and “discontent over the uneven distribution of huge oil and gas revenues” across the country, Bathily said. nation. “
The protracted political crisis “also poses a serious risk of further fragmenting the country and its institutions,” he added.
Bathily told the council that Saleh and al-Mashri had earlier agreed to meet in the city of Zintan under the auspices of the United Nations on December 4 to try to find a way out of the crisis, but unfortunately, “due to unforeseen logistical reasons , postponed meetings and emerging political hurdles.”
He said the United Nations was working on a new date and venue for the meeting. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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