UNITED NATIONS — Fed up with divisions in the country, Libyans from rival regions and all walks of life want political players to end their years of deadlock and agree to hold national elections, an important step towards peace in oil-rich North Africa country, the UN. A deputy representative said this on Wednesday.
Stephanie Koury told the UN Security Council that she has met with political leaders, civil society representatives, academics, women’s groups, military leaders and others in the country’s rival eastern and western countries to hear their views. She said there is consensus that the current “status quo is not sustainable” – and that the political process must evolve towards elections.
Libya plunged into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed a longtime dictator Moammar Gaddafi in 2011. In the chaos that followed, the country split, with rival governments in the east and west, backed by rogue militias and foreign governments.
The countries current political crisis 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 step down. In response, Libya’s eastern parliament appointed a rival prime minister, who was suspended. The east is now ruled by Prime Minister Ossama Hammad powerful military commander Khalifa Hifter continues to hold sway.
Koury, the top U.N. official in Libya since the resignation of Special Representative Abdoulaye Bathily in April, said many Libyans she spoke to underlined the importance of a “pact” or agreement that would include the rival sides’ respect for the outcome of elections. They also expressed deep concern about the country’s divisions and parallel governments, and put forward ideas for a roadmap to elections, she said.
“As institutional and political divisions deepen, ordinary Libyans long for peace, stability, prosperity and reconciliation,” Koury said. “Resolute and united action to advance a political process is needed for Libyans, with the support of the international community.”
In February, Bathily warned the country’s warring political actors that if they did not urgently form a unified government and move towards elections Libya will slide towards ‘disintegration’.
The three African countries on the council – Sierra Leone, Algeria and Mozambique, along with Guyana – said in a joint statement on Wednesday that “the Security Council should remain committed to an inclusive Libyan-led and Libyan-controlled political process, facilitated by the United Nations…for holding national elections.”
The four countries called on rival political players “to move away from entrenched institutional and political positions, resolve their differences, reach consensus and facilitate the holding of national elections.”
U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood said the United States also continues to strongly support the efforts of the U.N. political mission “to move Libya closer to unlocking a viable process toward long-awaited elections.”
“Progress toward greater military integration remains key to reaffirming Libyan sovereignty and preventing Libya from becoming entangled in regional unrest,” he said.
Regarding Russian actions in Libya, Wood told the council that the United States recently “sanctioned Russia’s state-owned company Goznak for producing counterfeit currency worldwide and printing more than $1 billion in counterfeit Libyan money, which has exacerbated the economic problems of Libya has worsened.”
Libya is under a U.N. arms embargo, and Wood said the United States also “notes with particular concern recent reports of Russian Federation naval vessels offloading military equipment in Libya.”
Libya’s UN Ambassador 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 free up for elections.
“We are tired and fed up with the gridlock and vicious cycle we have been going through for decades,” he said. “We are fed up and fed up with being lectured on what to do and what not to do,” and with the inaction of the Security Council.
“We are fed up and fed up with using Libya as a proxy for certain countries and regional powers for selfish, greedy fights, some of which have colonial ambitions,” El-Sonni said.
He called on the Security Council to “leave Libya alone” and let its people decide their own future and “take their destiny into their own hands.”