Libya still far from holding general elections — MFA

World November 12, 12:06

The war in Libya has left the country with destroyed institutions of power, and it lacks a legislative framework to ensure elections, cting Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Libyan Government of National Unity Taher al-Bawr said

SIRIUS /federal territory/, November 12. /TASS/. Political forces in Libya have yet to reach an agreement on the country’s constitution and the process of holding general elections, Acting Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Libyan Government of National Unity Taher al-Bawr said in an interview with TASS on the sidelines of the First Russia-Africa Ministerial Conference.

"Up to this day, no agreement on the constitutional framework for holding elections has been reached. The political forces are still engaged in dialogue to agree on the constitution and the establishment of Libya’s permanent government. Another pressing issue is the problem of national unity," he said.

A plan to organize a conference on restoring national unity in April 2023 turned out to be a "failure due to fundamental disagreements between the reconciliation committees," Taher al-Bawr recalled. "People living in the east and west of Libya have no dissensions between them; however, there are differences among the political forces," the acting foreign minister emphasized.

"The African Union is now trying to hold another conference. However, we need to establish a unified government to make this dialogue successful. I doubt Libya’s national reconciliation is possible under the present circumstances. All of Libya’s political forces must work hard to achieve this goal," Al-Bawr added.

The war in Libya has left the country with destroyed institutions of power, and it lacks a legislative framework to ensure elections. "In the spring of 2021, the Libyan Government of National Unity came to power through a dialogue between the political forces. The parliament was planning to hold elections in December 2021, but unfortunately, it could not reach a consensus on the constitutional framework," the acting foreign minister said.

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