Libyan Prime Minister Abdel Hamid al-Dabaiba announced a plan of several paths that leads to holding parliamentary elections next June, and moving the presidential elections to a later time, weeks after the House of Representatives chose Fathi Bashagha as the new prime minister.
Dabaiba said, in a televised speech on Monday evening, that this plan, which he called "the plan for the return of honesty to the people", will be to hold elections, "to end with it all the existing bodies, including the national unity government."
Dabaiba renewed his pledge not to step down from the premiership until after national elections, challenging Parliament's appointment of Bashagha as prime minister, noting that the path adopted by Parliament threatens to return the country to division and will inevitably lead to war again.
He stressed that his plan is the "only solution" that removes all political entities and his government from the current scene.
Dabaiba confirmed that his plan is to hold parliamentary elections before next June 24, that is, before the expiry date of the roadmap for the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum, which chose his government a year ago in Geneva.
He stated that the broad outlines of the plan include the formation of a technical committee to prepare a draft parliamentary election law, which the Council of Ministers presents to the Supreme Council of the State in accordance with the political agreement and is referred to the House of Representatives for approval within two weeks.
He pointed out that if this is not possible, the draft law is referred to the Political Dialogue Forum for approval and issued by a decree from the Presidential Council, and this track is given a period of 4 weeks and a maximum of next March 14, explaining that in the event of its failure, “we have no choice but to implement Law No. 2 of the year 2021 regarding the parliamentary elections, and that this law is approved and officially referred to the High National Elections Commission.
Last October, the Libyan House of Representatives issued Law No. 2 of 2021 regulating the electoral process for a new House of Representatives.
Dabaiba revealed that the option of electronic counseling will remain in the event that any party attempts to use force to prevent voting, and that this is done with complete transparency and international supervision that ensures the safety of voting.
At the beginning of this month, the eastern-based parliament appointed former interior minister and influential politician Fathi Bashagha, 60, as prime minister to replace Abdel Hamid Dabaiba, but the latter confirmed that he would hand over power only to an elected government.
The selection of Bashagha for the position came after the parliament recently approved a new road map, according to which the government will be reconstituted and elections will be held within a maximum of 14 months, which caused division and rejection of the prolonged postponement of the entitlement.