Some members are trying to renege on their previous commitments

The failure of the Geneva dialogue tends to undermine the chance of holding the Libyan elections

• Libyan Foreign Minister Najla Manqoush during a press conference with her German counterpart Heiko Maas at the conclusion of the last Berlin summit, which did not resolve the Libyan disputes.

  Reuters

• The Libyan Dialogue Forum in Geneva failed to agree on the elections and open the Libyan situation to all possibilities.

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The failure of the recent Libyan political dialogue, hosted by Geneva, raised pessimism about progress towards a final solution to the crisis, in a country mired in chaos for more than a decade, and may undermine the prospect of holding general elections at the end of 2021.

And 75 Libyan figures from all sects chosen by the United Nations met within the framework of a reconciliation process that began months ago in Geneva between June 28 and July 2, in order to agree on a mechanism for holding the legislative and presidential elections set for December 24.

They were supposed to submit their conclusions to Parliament by the first of July.

The dialogue dealt with setting a constitutional framework for this mechanism in light of the absence of a constitution in Libya, as the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi abolished it when he came to power in 1969.

It was reported that the meetings of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum in Geneva were noisy, to the point that some of the participating parties demanded the postponement of the elections.

Professor of International Relations Khaled Al-Muntasir believes that “the recent differences in the Geneva Dialogue regarding passing the constitutional rule regulating the elections were expected, since some members of the forum bet on time from the beginning, and some of them were not convinced of holding presidential and parliamentary elections, in less than a year of choosing the political authority. consolidated.”

After reaching an agreement on a ceasefire between the east and west of the country in October, the Libyan Dialogue Forum succeeded on February 5 in forming a new political authority with a unified government headed by Abdel Hamid al-Dabaiba, with a temporary mandate that provides for the preparation of general elections.

split

Al-Muntasir explains in this regard, “The members of the dialogue in Geneva were divided into three groups. The first group asked to postpone the elections to next year, and the second group demanded that parliamentary elections be held only, while the last group demanded adherence to the agreed roadmap under the auspices of the international community by holding general elections (parliamentary and presidential) together ».

A member of the Political Dialogue Forum confirmed to "AFP" that some members are trying to repudiate their previous pledges in support of holding the elections on time.

The member said, preferring not to be named: “There was consensus about a proposal for a specific constitutional rule that had been prepared for weeks, and the trend was towards passing it.

However, since the beginning of the Geneva meeting, some members refused to agree to it, and submitted proposals, some of which pushed for postponing the elections.

And the United Nations mission announced, last Saturday, the failure of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum to reach consensus on the constitutional basis regulating the elections.

She reiterated the rejection of proposals that do not pave the way and enable the holding of elections in December.

new proposals

The UN mission said in a statement: “Before the meeting of the Libyan Dialogue Forum, the mission held a meeting of the forum’s advisory committee at the end of June, to consider the proposals submitted, and make recommendations to the plenary session.

The plenary session in Switzerland discussed a compromise proposal drawn up by the Advisory Committee on establishing a constitutional basis for elections.

She added, "A number of forum members submitted three other proposals, some of which were consistent with the road map, some did not, and others sought to set preconditions to reach the date of December 24."

Regarding the fate of the constitutional base, the United Nations confirmed the formation of the forum’s members as a “consensus committee” to find common ground and try to bridge the gap between the proposals.

No new date has been set for the resumption of the dialogue, although less than half a year remains until the election date.

According to Libyan law professor, Jalal Al-Fitouri, all these "prepared" disputes show the sharp polarization prevailing among the international players influencing the Libyan scene.

He told AFP: "It is no secret that the countries that monopolize the Libyan file in both directions, in the west of the country, where the civil forces, armed groups, and Islamic currents, or in the east, any forces supporting the authority of the military led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, have put new pressures on their representatives. At the Dialogue Forum in Geneva.

Russia and other parties supported Field Marshal Haftar during his war with the former Al-Wefaq government, which was based in Tripoli, which received support from Turkey and Qatar.

Al-Fitouri added, “Each country supports a specific party, starting with the form of elections to the conditions for candidacy, and seeks to draw certain features to connect specific personalities to the head of power, and impose their presence more in a country exhausted by war, and is on the verge of a phase of reconstruction with hundreds of billions of saliva. different regional.

Amal

Despite this, the law professor considers that there is hope to resume work on the constitutional basis, and says: “The members of the Political Dialogue Forum have pledged, since their choice, categorically, to bring Libya to a permanent and stable stage through the elections, and therefore their desperate maneuver will not help by disrupting the train towards the electoral maturity after months. He pointed out that the international parties “have realized that the political option is the only alternative to the military one, which has repeatedly proven its failure in addressing the Libyan crisis.”

There was consensus on a proposal for a specific constitutional rule that had been prepared for weeks, and the tendency was towards passing it, but since the beginning of the Geneva meeting, some members refused to agree to it, and they submitted proposals, some of which pushed towards postponing the elections.

Each country supports a specific party, starting with the form of elections to the conditions for candidacy, and seeks to draw certain features to bring specific personalities to the head of power, and to impose their presence more in a country that has been exhausted by war.

• It was reported that the meetings of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum in Geneva were noisy, to the point that some of the participating parties demanded the postponement of the elections.

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