The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) today warned of “unilateral initiatives” to address political stagnation in the country, following proposals from two legislative bodies to form a new interim government prior to holding elections.
The UN seeks a clear path towards elections as a permanent solution to the Libyan crisis, ongoing for 12 years, but opponents of the current government in Tripoli want to focus on replacing it before conducting any national elections.
The UN Mission, referring to the proposals from the two legislative bodies, stated in a release, “Any unilateral actions, like previous attempts in the past, could lead to severe consequences for Libya, leading to further instability and inciting violence.”
The two bodies, namely the House of Representatives and the High Council of State, backed competing factions during the fighting between east and west Libya factions, which has calmed since 2020. A previous attempt by the House of Representatives to appoint a new government last year led to a day of intense fighting in Tripoli.
While the two councils still compete on many key issues, they have expressed their opposition to the Government of National Unity in Tripoli, led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbaiba.
The House of Representatives was elected for a four-year term in 2014, and the High Council of State was created in 2015 from a former legislative body elected in 2012. Under an internationally recognized agreement in 2015, each council has a say in major political developments, but they do not agree on their respective powers.
UN diplomatic efforts this year focused on urging them to agree on constitutional and legal changes that would allow presidential and parliamentary elections. However, they have failed so far to finalize these changes.
The UN envoy to Libya, Abdullah Patel, stated two days ago in another release, “The current form of the election laws will not lead us to successful elections.” Instead, the two councils announced a separate roadmap, including replacing the Dbaiba government before any move towards national elections that would result in their replacement.
The two councils stated that they are still discussing “some observations” from the roadmap, after they had initially approved it. The roadmap aims to form a new interim government to oversee the presidential and parliamentary elections.
