Libya: first differences at the opening of the Tunis political dialogue forum

Participants in the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum.

November 9, 2020 in Tunis REUTERS / Zoubeir Souissi

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4 min

Seventy-five Libyan representatives chosen by the United Nations have been meeting since Monday, November 9 in Tunis to find a political solution to the crisis in Libya.

While the roadmap is accepted by all, the order of priorities differs.

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To deal first with the names or the form of the future political regime?

This is the question that was at the center of the first discussions on Monday afternoon at the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum in Tunis.

Stephanie Williams, the acting UN representative in Libya, clearly laid out the roadmap for the 75 participants: they must find a single government that will be responsible for preparing the elections scheduled within 18 months.

To stabilize the country first ...

If all the Libyans chosen by the UN on geographical, ethnic and ideological bases have accepted the principle, there is no consensus on the order of priorities.

Some participants think that we must first work to stabilize the country by appointing a government that would achieve consensus before thinking about the future.

Others say that in order to achieve this consensus, everyone must first know what the next election is going to look like.

Your determination will be tested

Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General

Faced with this first obstacle, voices within the Forum are already wondering if this conference is not doomed to lead to “ 

 ”.

Signed in December 2015, this text gave birth to the current Government of National Unity of Tripoli appointed by the United Nations which has never succeeded in uniting the east and the west of the country.

The organizers questioned also estimate at just over 50% the chances of seeing the dialogue lead to a real solid agreement within a week.

Their main fear is in particular the emergence of an alternative plan, which could emerge in the days to come, on the part of discontented Libyan groups, which would undermine the efforts made so far to bring together these 75 Libyans.

Discussions are scheduled to last until late at night on Monday.

The Forum is expected to last about a week.

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• Libya

• UN

• Antonio Guterres