UNITED NATIONS — Libyans from rival regions and from all walks of life are fed up with the country’s divisions and want political players to end their years-long impasse and agree to hold national elections, a key step towards peace in the oil-rich Libyan country. North Africa, the UN said. deputy representative said Wednesday.
Stephanie Koury told the UN Security Council that she has been meeting with political leaders, civil society representatives, academics, women’s groups, military leaders and others in the country’s rival east and west to hear their views. She said there is consensus that the current “status quo is not sustainable” – and that the political process needs to move towards elections.
Libya descended into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed a longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. In the ensuing chaos, the country became divided, with rival administrations in the east and west supported by rogue militias and foreign governments.
The country current political crisis it stems from the failure to hold elections on December 24, 2021, and the refusal of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah – who led a transitional government in the capital Tripoli – to resign. In response, Libya’s eastern-based parliament appointed a rival prime minister, who was suspended. The East is now governed by Prime Minister Ossama Hammad, while the powerful military commander Khalifa Hifter continues to dominate.
Koury, the top UN official in Libya since the resignation of special representative Abdoulaye Bathily in April, said many Libyans she spoke to signaled the importance of a “pact” or agreement that affirmed, among other things, respect for the rival parties. by the election results. They also expressed deep concern about the country’s divisions and parallel governments and provided ideas on a roadmap for the elections, she said.
“As institutional and political divisions continue to deepen, ordinary Libyans yearn for peace, stability, prosperity and reconciliation,” said Koury. “Libyans need resolute and united action to advance a political process, with the support of the international community.”
In February, Bathily warned the country’s rival political actors that if they did not urgently form a unified government and move towards elections, Libya will slide towards “disintegration”.
The three African nations on the council – Sierra Leone, Algeria and Mozambique, joined by Guyana – said in a joint statement Wednesday that “the Security Council must remain committed to an inclusive political process led and owned by Libya, facilitated by the United Nations… for holding national elections.”
The four countries called on rival political actors “to step out of entrenched institutional and political positions, resolve their differences, build consensus and facilitate the holding of national elections”.
US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood said the United States also continues to strongly support the efforts of the UN political mission “to bring Libya closer to unlocking a viable process towards long-awaited elections.”
“Progress towards greater military integration remains critical to reassert Libyan sovereignty and prevent Libya from becoming embroiled in regional turmoil,” he said.
Turning to Russia’s actions in Libya, Wood told the council that the United States recently sanctioned “Russian state-owned company Goznak for producing counterfeit currency worldwide and printing more than a billion dollars in counterfeit Libyan currency, which has exacerbated Libya’s economic challenges.”
Libya is under a UN arms embargo, and Wood said the United States also notes “with particular concern recent reports of Russian Federation Navy ships unloading military equipment in Libya.”
Libya’s Ambassador to the UN, Taher El-Sonni, who represents the internationally recognized government in the West, stressed that national reconciliation is the only way to rebuild social cohesion and trust between rivals, unite the country and pave the way for elections.
“We are tired and fed up with the impasse and vicious cycle we have been going through for decades,” he said. “We are tired and fed up of being lectured about what to do and what not to do,” and of the Security Council’s inaction.
“We are tired and fed up of using Libya as a proxy for certain countries and regional powers for selfish and greedy battles, some of which have colonial ambitions,” El-Sonni said.
He called on the Security Council “to leave Libya alone” and let the people decide their own future and “take their destiny into their own hands”.
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