The UN-sponsored Libyan political dialogue is due to end on Sunday, after a week of direct talks in Tunis which have so far resulted in an agreement on national elections in December 2021, the UN said.
The Gammarth Forum near the Tunisian capital brings together 75 delegates from all sides, selected by the UN on the basis of their geographic, political or ideological affiliation. But not the main protagonists.
Undermined by conflicts and power struggles since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, Libya is today torn between two rival authorities: the Government of National Unity (GNA), based in the West in Tripoli and recognized by the UN, and a power embodied by Khalifa Haftar, strongman of the East.
The UN announced Friday evening that participants in the Dialogue Forum had agreed to hold national elections on December 24, 2021, without specifying whether these were presidential or parliamentary elections or both.
Delegates must establish the prerogatives of a unified executive to organize these elections and respond to the needs of Libyans, exasperated by corruption and failing services. They must also choose the four main heads of this executive, composed of a three-member presidential council and a head of government.
These discussions take place under a ceasefire formalized in October, after the cessation in June of hostilities between the GNA and Camp Haftar.
Economic, military and political progress has since been made, after several rounds of talks.
The former UN envoy to Libya, Ghassan Salamé, assured AFP on Friday that he had “never been so optimistic” about the possibility of seeing the end of a decade of violence in this country of North Africa which holds the largest oil reserves in Africa.
But prudence remains in order. In recent years, several agreements have gone unheeded and elections have been announced without materializing.
The political class remains largely resistant to elections, and elected officials on Saturday demanded that a constitution be adopted before any poll.
Several organizations criticized the composition of the Gammarth Forum, believing that certain political or military forces were under-represented.
Armed groups or their international sponsors could be tempted to sabotage an agreement that would harm them, in a country that has seen increasing involvement of foreign powers and where the truce remains fragile.
