National reconciliation or elections, which option to resolve the crisis in Libya?

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Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The announcement of a preparatory meeting 
between the Libyan Presidential Council and the African Union (AU), in advance of an inclusive conference for national reconciliation in Libya, has reopened the debate on the priority to be followed to achieve a settlement of the Libyan crisis.

It is a question of whether to give priority to national reconciliation or the organization of elections, especially since the pan-African organization seems to have a predilection for reconciliation to settle the situation in this North African country while Western countries advocate elections.

Indeed, the chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), Moussa Faki, has indicated that the African Union is holding a preliminary meeting to prepare a reconciliation conference for all Libyans.

In a statement to France 24, on the sidelines of the Francophone Summit in Tunisia, Mr Faki stressed the need to find "a formula that will allow Libyans to reconcile and then go to elections to choose who will run the country's affairs".

The head of the pan-African organization explained that "there is a new push for a political process in Libya that includes several steps", without revealing what these steps are.

On 11 November, the Congolese Foreign Minister, Jean-Claude Gakoso, announced that Brazzaville was working on organizing a reconciliation conference for Libyans by 2023.

On the sidelines of the UN Sharm el-Sheikh Summit on Climate Change (COP27), Gakosso confirmed to the Russian news agency "Sputnik" that he was "working to organize a major Libyan reconciliation conference next year under the auspices of the five UN Security Council countries".

The Congolese diplomat added that after the UN conference on climate change, he would travel to the Libyan capital, Tripoli, to hold talks with all parties to the conflict in Libya on the issue.

The African Union has been engaged in recent years in the search for a solution to the crisis in Libya through the African Union High Committee on Libya, chaired by Congo, which is working to organize a conference on Libyan national reconciliation in collaboration with the Presidential Council, which is currently working on the development of a national reconciliation strategy.

One of the components of the Executive Authority set up by the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum, alongside the Government of National Unity, the Libyan Presidential Council is responsible, among other things, for achieving national reconciliation in the country.

It has been working throughout the past period on the formation of a High Commission for National Reconciliation to carry out the reconciliation project in Libya, a country that has suffered from a decade of security chaos that has caused a deep rift in the social fabric of a tribal-based society where social relations are of paramount importance and are based on specific, unchanging social codes based on centuries-old traditions.

In recent months, the Presidential Council has held meetings to finalize the national reconciliation project through workshops at universities with the participation of academics and civil society activists to ensure that Libyans take ownership of the strategic vision it presented on 23 June.

The strategic vision of the Libyan Presidential Council's national reconciliation project includes addressing the roots of the conflict, national identity, the governance system, decentralization and transitional justice.

This strategy, which was put in place by the Presidential Council after successfully preparing the final formula for the integration and amendment of the transitional justice laws, widening the circle of participation of elites and society, with the participation of a number of experts, academics and researchers, also proposes five guiding principles to achieve reconciliation.

These aims to address the roots of the conflict, achieve the rule of law, equality in rights and duties, and citizenship, priority to the public interest and the integration of all reconciliation projects into one framework.

The chairman of the Presidential Council, Mohamed Al-Manfi, stressed at the launch of the strategy that it is their responsibility to establish a genuine comprehensive national reconciliation project that unites Libyans and restores their social fabric.

He insisted that, through this vision, "we have made it our duty to lay the foundations for a journey towards a confident, reassuring and radiant future".

For the Libyan political analyst, Mahmoud Al-Ghazali, "despite these initiatives of the Presidential Council which are very punctual and limited in scope, the project of national reconciliation has been greatly delayed.

He said that "the Presidential Council should have accelerated the realization of this fundamental file in the reconstruction of the new Libya, especially for a post-conflict country that must necessarily heal its wounds and put in place a transitional justice.

He explains, in fact, "the failure of the December 24 elections by the lack of progress in national reconciliation", wondering "how to organize an electoral ballot in a country emerging from a fratricidal war, the latest of which was that of Tripoli in April 2019.

Thus, Mr. Al-Ghazali links any success in resolving the crisis in Libya "to the combination of national reconciliation and transitional justice to reconcile Libyans among themselves to be able to look forward to the future by agreeing on general elections that envisages a healthy political system.

The Libyan political activist, Seif Al-Maghrebi, finds justifications that clear the Libyan Presidential Council by mentioning "the complexity of the situation in Libya which makes it difficult to deal with the reconciliation issue".

According to him, "the situation in Libya has international dimensions with foreign interference that has fuelled mistrust between the belligerents and increased tensions to maintain divisions and serve their interests to the detriment of Libyans with an increased foreign military presence that takes the decision-making power of Libyans as a pledge and torpedoes any attempt to find a intra-Libyan solution.

However, Mr. Al-Magherbi stressed that "it is still time to catch up by working on the implementation of an effective and genuine national reconciliation project that can unite again Libyans who are close to each other to forget the pains of the past and turn resolutely to the future.

Thus, it appears that reconciliation, although very important to contribute to a solution of the crisis in Libya, is a very long process that needs to be matured to ensure its success.

For the proponents of the primacy of elections, they essentially put forward the argument based on the fact that the crisis in Libya hinges mainly on the issue of legitimacy of the institutions that have fuelled the conflict throughout the past decade.

In addition, the United Nations, the United States and European countries believe that elections are the key to the solution in Libya, organized on the basis of a rigid and consensual constitutional legal framework allowing for transparent and fair polls whose results will be accepted by all.

It is within this framework that the mission of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, Abdoulaye Bathily, falls, namely to relaunch the electoral process for the holding of elections as soon as possible.

Bathily said in his briefing to the Security Council that he perceived a broad consensus that Libyan institutions were facing a serious legitimacy crisis and that the restoration of legitimacy at all levels was of paramount importance.

The UN official acknowledged that "further prolonging the interim period will make the country even more vulnerable to political, economic and security instability, and could expose the country to the risk of partition", referring to the idea of favouring elections over the formation of a new government.

He therefore called for joint efforts to encourage Libyan leaders to work resolutely towards holding elections as soon as possible.

Although there was unanimity among members of the Security Council on the importance of elections as the only way to find a solution to the Libyan crisis, rejecting the military option, the means to achieve these elections differed among these countries.

Thus, two main positions have emerged among these countries, both of which are in favour of national reconciliation, based on the need for some to move towards elections after agreeing on a consensual constitutional basis, but not on the resolution of the issue of executive power with the existence of two rival governments.

Libya remains in a political stalemate since the postponement of last December's elections, exacerbating the crisis with the existence of two competing governments, a situation that has heightened tension in the country with deadly clashes between the two sides.

The organization of the elections remains dependent on the adoption of a legal framework at a time when talks between the Parliament and the High Council of State on the elaboration of a constitutional basis for the holding of legislative and presidential elections have failed to reach a consensus due to disagreements on the eligibility of binationals and the military.

Thus, there is an urgent need for the United Nations, in particular the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, Bathily, to focus on priorities that can lead to a lasting solution.

-0- PANA BY/IS/BBA/RA 24Nov2022

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The announcement of a preparatory meeting 
between the Libyan Presidential Council and the African Union (AU), in advance of an inclusive conference for national reconciliation in Libya, has reopened the debate on the priority to be followed to achieve a settlement of the Libyan crisis.

It is a question of whether to give priority to national reconciliation or the organization of elections, especially since the pan-African organization seems to have a predilection for reconciliation to settle the situation in this North African country while Western countries advocate elections.

Indeed, the chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), Moussa Faki, has indicated that the African Union is holding a preliminary meeting to prepare a reconciliation conference for all Libyans.

In a statement to France 24, on the sidelines of the Francophone Summit in Tunisia, Mr Faki stressed the need to find "a formula that will allow Libyans to reconcile and then go to elections to choose who will run the country's affairs".

The head of the pan-African organization explained that "there is a new push for a political process in Libya that includes several steps", without revealing what these steps are.

On 11 November, the Congolese Foreign Minister, Jean-Claude Gakoso, announced that Brazzaville was working on organizing a reconciliation conference for Libyans by 2023.

On the sidelines of the UN Sharm el-Sheikh Summit on Climate Change (COP27), Gakosso confirmed to the Russian news agency "Sputnik" that he was "working to organize a major Libyan reconciliation conference next year under the auspices of the five UN Security Council countries".

The Congolese diplomat added that after the UN conference on climate change, he would travel to the Libyan capital, Tripoli, to hold talks with all parties to the conflict in Libya on the issue.

The African Union has been engaged in recent years in the search for a solution to the crisis in Libya through the African Union High Committee on Libya, chaired by Congo, which is working to organize a conference on Libyan national reconciliation in collaboration with the Presidential Council, which is currently working on the development of a national reconciliation strategy.

One of the components of the Executive Authority set up by the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum, alongside the Government of National Unity, the Libyan Presidential Council is responsible, among other things, for achieving national reconciliation in the country.

It has been working throughout the past period on the formation of a High Commission for National Reconciliation to carry out the reconciliation project in Libya, a country that has suffered from a decade of security chaos that has caused a deep rift in the social fabric of a tribal-based society where social relations are of paramount importance and are based on specific, unchanging social codes based on centuries-old traditions.

In recent months, the Presidential Council has held meetings to finalize the national reconciliation project through workshops at universities with the participation of academics and civil society activists to ensure that Libyans take ownership of the strategic vision it presented on 23 June.

The strategic vision of the Libyan Presidential Council's national reconciliation project includes addressing the roots of the conflict, national identity, the governance system, decentralization and transitional justice.

This strategy, which was put in place by the Presidential Council after successfully preparing the final formula for the integration and amendment of the transitional justice laws, widening the circle of participation of elites and society, with the participation of a number of experts, academics and researchers, also proposes five guiding principles to achieve reconciliation.

These aims to address the roots of the conflict, achieve the rule of law, equality in rights and duties, and citizenship, priority to the public interest and the integration of all reconciliation projects into one framework.

The chairman of the Presidential Council, Mohamed Al-Manfi, stressed at the launch of the strategy that it is their responsibility to establish a genuine comprehensive national reconciliation project that unites Libyans and restores their social fabric.

He insisted that, through this vision, "we have made it our duty to lay the foundations for a journey towards a confident, reassuring and radiant future".

For the Libyan political analyst, Mahmoud Al-Ghazali, "despite these initiatives of the Presidential Council which are very punctual and limited in scope, the project of national reconciliation has been greatly delayed.

He said that "the Presidential Council should have accelerated the realization of this fundamental file in the reconstruction of the new Libya, especially for a post-conflict country that must necessarily heal its wounds and put in place a transitional justice.

He explains, in fact, "the failure of the December 24 elections by the lack of progress in national reconciliation", wondering "how to organize an electoral ballot in a country emerging from a fratricidal war, the latest of which was that of Tripoli in April 2019.

Thus, Mr. Al-Ghazali links any success in resolving the crisis in Libya "to the combination of national reconciliation and transitional justice to reconcile Libyans among themselves to be able to look forward to the future by agreeing on general elections that envisages a healthy political system.

The Libyan political activist, Seif Al-Maghrebi, finds justifications that clear the Libyan Presidential Council by mentioning "the complexity of the situation in Libya which makes it difficult to deal with the reconciliation issue".

According to him, "the situation in Libya has international dimensions with foreign interference that has fuelled mistrust between the belligerents and increased tensions to maintain divisions and serve their interests to the detriment of Libyans with an increased foreign military presence that takes the decision-making power of Libyans as a pledge and torpedoes any attempt to find a intra-Libyan solution.

However, Mr. Al-Magherbi stressed that "it is still time to catch up by working on the implementation of an effective and genuine national reconciliation project that can unite again Libyans who are close to each other to forget the pains of the past and turn resolutely to the future.

Thus, it appears that reconciliation, although very important to contribute to a solution of the crisis in Libya, is a very long process that needs to be matured to ensure its success.

For the proponents of the primacy of elections, they essentially put forward the argument based on the fact that the crisis in Libya hinges mainly on the issue of legitimacy of the institutions that have fuelled the conflict throughout the past decade.

In addition, the United Nations, the United States and European countries believe that elections are the key to the solution in Libya, organized on the basis of a rigid and consensual constitutional legal framework allowing for transparent and fair polls whose results will be accepted by all.

It is within this framework that the mission of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, Abdoulaye Bathily, falls, namely to relaunch the electoral process for the holding of elections as soon as possible.

Bathily said in his briefing to the Security Council that he perceived a broad consensus that Libyan institutions were facing a serious legitimacy crisis and that the restoration of legitimacy at all levels was of paramount importance.

The UN official acknowledged that "further prolonging the interim period will make the country even more vulnerable to political, economic and security instability, and could expose the country to the risk of partition", referring to the idea of favouring elections over the formation of a new government.

He therefore called for joint efforts to encourage Libyan leaders to work resolutely towards holding elections as soon as possible.

Although there was unanimity among members of the Security Council on the importance of elections as the only way to find a solution to the Libyan crisis, rejecting the military option, the means to achieve these elections differed among these countries.

Thus, two main positions have emerged among these countries, both of which are in favour of national reconciliation, based on the need for some to move towards elections after agreeing on a consensual constitutional basis, but not on the resolution of the issue of executive power with the existence of two rival governments.

Libya remains in a political stalemate since the postponement of last December's elections, exacerbating the crisis with the existence of two competing governments, a situation that has heightened tension in the country with deadly clashes between the two sides.

The organization of the elections remains dependent on the adoption of a legal framework at a time when talks between the Parliament and the High Council of State on the elaboration of a constitutional basis for the holding of legislative and presidential elections have failed to reach a consensus due to disagreements on the eligibility of binationals and the military.

Thus, there is an urgent need for the United Nations, in particular the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, Bathily, to focus on priorities that can lead to a lasting solution.

-0- PANA BY/IS/BBA/RA 24Nov2022