Libya: no agreement on a transitional executive to support the 2021 elections
Members of the presidential guard in front of Parliament, Tripoli, Libya, May 4, 2014. REUTERS / Ismail Zitouny
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3 min
The week of discussions which has just ended in Tunis was to designate a unified executive power capable of pulling Libya out of several years of chaos and of organizing the next general elections.
A date has been set for these elections in December 2021, but the 75 delegates of the Libyan political committee were unable to agree on the mechanism for choosing the prime minister.
The UN which avoids talking about failure announces a new meeting by videoconference in a few days.
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This meeting once again showed
the extent of the discord
between Libyans and their difficulty in agreeing on the names of those who will lead the 18-month transition period.
"
Ten years of conflict cannot be resolved in a week,
" said Stéphanie Williams, acting head of the United Nations support mission in Libya, late this Sunday, at the end of this week of discussions.
On Thursday, talks almost came to a halt and some delegates threatened to withdraw.
Thirty-two members of the political commission meeting in Tunis had signed a petition to adjourn the meeting.
They protested against the mechanism devised by the UN for the selection of future candidates for sovereign positions.
It was enough to have ten votes out of the 75 representatives present in Gammarth for the candidacy to be accepted.
Some have not failed to accuse the UN of wanting to impose Islamists to lead the transition period.
It is therefore this selection mechanism for the future authority imposed by the UN and the prerogatives of the Presidential Council that undermined the meeting.
The Islamists who represent at least 42 delegates out of 75 still refuse to grant the leadership of the army to the president of the Presidential Council.
Another point that has sparked heated discussions, the proposal to exclude the personalities in power since 2014 from any candidacy
for the transition period
.
A proposal was not adopted.
Regarding progress, the delegates gathered in Tunis succeeded in defining a date for the next elections, in setting the conditions for running for the posts of Prime Minister, President of the Presidential Council and Vice-President.
They also agreed on a 20% representation of women for all sovereign positions in the State.
Thus a post of vice-president of the Presidential Council will in principle be granted to a woman.
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