Libya: Bathily's initiative coldly welcomed by the political class
Abdoulaye Bathily's plan to get Libya out of the political rut and hold elections in 2023 has been coldly received by the political class.
AFP / Marco Longari
Text by: Houda Ibrahim Follow
3 mins
The strongly divided Libyan political class reacted negatively to the announcement of the initiative by Abdoulaye Bathily, the UN special envoy to Libya.
The latter launched Monday, before the Security Council, a new proposal to break the impasse in Libya, and organize "inclusive and transparent" general elections in 2023.
Advertisement
Read more
The UN envoy said that the Libyan institutions whose mandates have expired must regain "legitimacy".
It plans to establish a high-level steering panel to put in place a timetable leading up to the elections.
Many Libyan officials were taken aback by this initiative, some fearing the end of their term.
One of the biggest problems Libya suffers from is the corruption of a political class that clings to power, a reality that has been mentioned in several UN reports.
In his first reaction, Khaled el-Mishri, president of the Supreme Council of the State, an institution with an advisory role, considered that the UN proposal is "dangerous"
and
"
constitutes an attack on national sovereignty
".
As for the Parliament, it accused the UN mission of partiality: "
only the Parliament has the right to legislate
", it was announced.
Parliament has also unilaterally published in the Official Journal a thirteenth amendment to the legal framework for the holding of elections.
The Supreme State Council adjourned three times to discuss this amendment.
Monday, before the UN Council,
Abdoulaye Bathily
notified these differences between the two institutions, criticizing the text published in the Official Journal for not specifying a date for the organization of the elections.
In fact, the mechanism proposed by Abdoulaye Bathily allows the special envoy to circumvent the persistent deadlock between the two institutions.
His initiative is a kind of third way out of the impasse.
►
To read also
: The UN special representative for Libya advocates a high-level panel to overcome the crisis
To do this, he chose a third voice, far from the institutions, a kind of mixed committee made up of Libyan personalities who do not hold positions in power and members of civil society.
A bit like the committee formed by the former adviser to the Secretary General of the UN, the American Stéphanie Williams in 2020. But this new committee will be limited: around forty members who will be responsible, among other things, for appointing the committee who will oversee the elections.
►
To read also
: The African Union plans a "national reconciliation conference" in Libya
International reactions
It should be noted that Washington organized a meeting of the contact group for Libya last Thursday in the presence of the UN envoy.
Representatives from Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Qatar, UAE and Turkey were present.
The American Secretary of State, Antony Blinken had then estimated that it is important to organize the ballot as soon as possible.
In 2023, said a press release from the department.
Egypt has been reluctant to this initiative.
Its representative at the UN estimated that any proposal must go through the Parliament and the Supreme Council of the Libyan State.
As for Russia, it warned against any haste in organizing the elections.
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
Libya