NEW YORK: The UN deputy representative has said that Libyans from rival regions and 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 polls, a key step to peace in the oil-rich African nation.
Stephanie Koury told the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) that she has been meeting political leaders, academics, women’s groups, civil society representatives, military leaders and others in the nation’s rival east and west to listen to their views. She stated that there is consensus that the current “status quo is not sustainable” – and the political process requires to advance toward polls.
Libya plunged into confusion following a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime ruler Muammar Qaddafi in 2011. In the confusion that followed, the nation split, with rival administrations in the east and west backed by rogue militias and foreign governments.
Libya’s current political crisis stems from the failure to hold polls on December 24, 2021, and the denial of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah — who led a transitional government in Tripoli — to step down. In response, Libya’s east-based parliament had appointed a rival PM who was suspended. The east is now governed by PM Ossama Hammad while the powerful military leader Khalifa Haftar continues to hold sway.
Koury, the top UN official in Libya since the resignation of special representative Abdoulaye Bathily in April has said many people in Libya she spoke to signaled the significance of a “pact” or deal that would affirm, among other things, the rival parties’ respect for the result of polls. They expressed deep concern at the nation’s divisions and parallel governments, and also provided ideas on a roadmap to polls, she added.
Koury said that while institutional and political divisions keep deepening, people of Libya long for peace, prosperity, reconciliation and stability. The UN envoy said that resolute and united action to advance a political process is required by Libyans with the support of the world.
Earlier, in February, Bathily had warned the country’s feuding political actors that if they didn’t urgently set up a unified government and move toward polls Libya will slide into “disintegration.”
Libya is under a United Nations arms embargo, and Wood stated that the US also notes with special concern the recent reports of Russian naval vessels unloading military hardware in Libya.
Libya’s UN envoy Taher El-Sonni, who represents the internationally recognized government in the west, emphasized that national reconciliation is the only way to rebuild social cohesion and trust between the opponents, unite the nation and pave the way for polls.
The envoy called on the UNSC to leave Libya alone” and let the citizens decide their own future and “take their destiny in their own hands.
