TRIPOLI: Libya’s High State Council (HSC) voted in a televised session on Sunday to replace its leader, Mohammed Takala, adding new uncertainty to the country’s political standoff over government control and the path to elections.
The Tripoli-based HSC plays a significant role in major political matters under the terms of a 2015 political agreement and has been engaged in negotiations with the House of Representatives (HoR), which is based in the country’s east.
In the run-off vote, Mohammed Takala secured 67 votes to oust the previous leader, Khaled Al-Meshri, who had been leading the HSC since 2018. Following the vote, Meshri congratulated Takala on his win.
The HSC and the HoR have been under pressure from the United Nations to work towards holding national elections. However, both bodies have sought to replace the interim government in Tripoli before any voting takes place. Prime Minister Abdulhamid Al-Dbeibah, a political rival of both Meshri and HoR speaker Aguila Saleh, has asserted that he will not step down until after an election. Last year, Al-Dbeibah resisted brief armed attempts to unseat him.
Libya’s HSC’s Negotiations with HoR
The election of Mohammed Takala raises questions about how it will impact the HSC’s negotiations with the HoR over electoral rules and their efforts to replace Prime Minister Al-Dbeibah.
Presidential and parliamentary elections have been seen as a critical element for a lasting solution to Libya’s conflict. Both the HoR and the HSC face challenges to their legitimacy, as the HoR’s 2014 election to a four-year term was rejected by the previous parliament and the supreme court amid a new round of civil war.
Since a UN-backed process pushed for new elections under Dbeibah’s interim Government of National Unity, major fighting in Libya has paused. However, attempts to hold an election were unsuccessful in late 2021, with both the HSC and the HoR rejecting Dbeibah’s mandate and calling for a new interim government.
While UN diplomatic efforts continue to encourage the bodies to agree on election rules, many Libyans believe that both the HoR and the HSC have little interest in holding an election that could potentially remove them from office.
