Bathily: National Mood Ripe for New Political Deal in Libya

Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Libya and head of the UN Support Mission in Libya Abdoulaye Bathily presented on Monday a clear diagnosis of the problems that are still preventing presidential and parliamentary elections from being held in the North African country.

He criticized Libyan officials for “clinging to their seats”, calling on the UN Security Council to prevent them from failing the Libyan people.

Briefing the Security Council on the latest developments in Libya, Bathily noted the Libyan House of Representatives’ approval of two laws on the presidential elections. He said that for the first time since elections were thwarted in December 2021, Libya has a constitutional and legal framework for elections in place.

“We need to build on this important achievement,” he urged, revealing that he had invited the leaders of the top five institutions in the country - Presidential Council (PC), HoR, High Council of State, interim Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU) and east-based Libyan National Army (LNA) - to a meeting.

“These chosen actors have the capacity to either reach consensus and advance the political process or prolong the stalemate and prevent Libya from holding peaceful elections,” Bathily remarked.

Moreover, he stressed that their “rivalry and lack of trust lie at the core of this prolonged crisis and stands in contradiction with the unity ordinary Libyans long for.”

Some Libyan leaders continue to drag their feet and do not, for now, show a decisive commitment to end the long-standing stalemate that has caused so much suffering for the ordinary Libyans, he noted.

“Electoral laws alone cannot make elections happen if relevant actors are not genuinely committed to their implementation,” he stated.

Furthermore, the envoy called for the formation of a unified government to lead the country to elections, adding that this is required by the electoral laws and welcomed by Libyan citizens of all sides.

While the ceasefire continues to hold, he said sporadic armed clashes and other security incidents continue to be recorded in various regions.

Conditions

He said he has requested the leaders of the five institutions to nominate three representatives each to participate in a preparatory session to agree on the parameters of the meeting of the principals, including the date, venue and agenda.

He said that none of the institutional players outrightly rejected his invitation. However, some have set out conditions for their participation.

President of the Presidential Council Mohamed al-Menfi has shown clear and concrete support, the UN envoy said. “He is displaying his good will and exploring every way to make this dialogue successful. I will continue working on the PC on this effort.”

Bathily said the Speaker of HoR, Aguila Saleh, has conditioned his participation to the agenda focusing on the formation of a “new government for elections,” while also rejecting the participation of the GNU and its head Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah.

The President of the High Council of State, Muhammad Takala, has submitted the names of its three representatives to the preparatory meeting, despite his initial rejection of the version of the electoral laws published by the HoR, said the envoy.

He said that Dbeibah also submitted the names of the GNU's representatives. But, while ready to discuss outstanding issues in the electoral laws, Dbeibah categorically rejected any discussions on a “new government,” added Bathily.

LNA commander Khalifa Haftar is ready for dialogue, but has conditioned the GNU participation to the inclusion of the HoR-appointed government, he went on to say. Alternatively, he would agree to participate if both “governments” were excluded.

Bathily affirmed that except for a few political office holders whose terms of office have expired, and are “keeping the country hostage to their particular ambitions”, Libyans of all walks of life have expressed their “strong aspiration” for a unified government to lead the country to elections, legitimate and unified institutions, peace, stability and the unity of the country.

He added that community leaders, notables, political parties, women and youth groups, civil society organizations, the business community, the 5+5 JMC, other prominent military and security actors have expressed full readiness to ensure peaceful, inclusive and successful elections.

He also said that the High National Electoral Commission is also technically ready to start the preparations of the electoral process.

“The national mood is ripe for a new political deal, a new dispensation for a brighter future for the country,” Bathily declared, adding that “one group of unwilling officials clinging to their seats must not be allowed to fail the people of Libya and put the region at the risk of further chaos.”

Diplomats and aid officials from around the world are meeting Tuesday in London to try to ease the suffering from the two-year-old war in Sudan, a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 14 million and pushed large parts of the country into famine.

The one-day conference, hosted by Britain, France, Germany, the European Union and the African Union, has modest ambitions. It is not an attempt to negotiate peace, but an effort to relieve what the United Nations calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Attendees include officials from Western nations, international institutions and neighboring countries – but no one from Sudan. Neither the Sudanese government nor the rival paramilitary it is fighting has been invited.

“The brutal war in Sudan has devastated the lives of millions – and yet much of the world continues to look away,” said British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who visited Chad’s border with Sudan in January. “We need to act now to stop the crisis from becoming an all-out catastrophe, ensuring aid gets to those who need it the most.”

Sudan plunged into war on April 15, 2023, after simmering tensions between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Fighting broke out in the capital, Khartoum, and spread across the country, killing at least 20,000 people – though the number is likely far higher.

Over 300 civilians were killed in a burst of intense fighting in the western region of Darfur on Friday and Saturday, according to the UN.

Last month the Sudanese military regained control over Khartoum, a major symbolic victory in the war. But the RSF still controls most of Darfur and some other areas.

The war has driven parts of the country into famine and pushed more than 14 million people from their homes, with more than 3 million fleeing the country, to neighboring countries including Chad and Egypt. Both sides in the war have been accused of committing war crimes.

The World Food Program says nearly 25 million people — half of Sudan’s population — face extreme hunger.

Aid agency Oxfam said the humanitarian catastrophe risks becoming a regional crisis, with fighting spilling into neighboring countries. It said that in South Sudan, itself wracked by recent war, “the arrival of people fleeing Sudan’s conflict has put more pressure on already scarce resources, which is deepening local tensions and threatening the fragile peace.”

The US, which recently cut almost all its foreign aid, is expected to be represented at the London conference.

Ahead of the meeting, Lammy announced 120 million pounds ($158 million) in funding for the coming year to deliver food for 650,000 people in Sudan, from Britain’s increasingly limited foreign aid budget.

In February the UK cut its aid budget from 0.5% of Gross Domestic Product to 0.3% to fund an increase in military spending. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said Sudan, along with Ukraine and Gaza, will remain a priority for British aid.

Bathily: National Mood Ripe for New Political Deal in Libya