Latest news with #SkhiratAgreement
Libya Review
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Libya Review
Libya's Parliament Speaker Urges Consensus to End Political Division
Libya's Speaker of the Parliament, Ageela Saleh, renewed his call for the urgent formation of a new, unified government, stating that the step is essential to pulling the country out of its prolonged political and institutional crisis. Saleh made the remarks in a recorded address released Saturday, emphasizing that the creation of a new executive authority is not contingent upon holding elections. According to Saleh, a new government must be formed immediately and in line with the Libyan Political Agreement, through consensus between the House of Representatives and the High Council of State. 'We no longer have the luxury of multiple tracks or a variety of solutions. We must move swiftly to establish a new authority. Our experience with multiple dialogues has failed, starting from the Skhirat Agreement to the Geneva talks, which only prolonged the crisis and deepened the national divide,' he said. Saleh criticised the Presidential Council, headed by Mohamed Al Mnifi, stating it has overstepped its role by issuing decrees with legal force outside its jurisdiction. 'The Presidential Council was not elected and thus has no legitimate mandate to represent the Libyan people. It has aligned itself with a government whose legal and political term has expired, and it has interfered in matters beyond its scope while obstructing the reconciliation process,' he said. He accused the Council of contributing directly to the continuation of Libya's institutional paralysis by failing to unify state institutions and support national reconciliation. Saleh said that the time has come for decisive action, and that forming a unified authority is the last remaining option to avoid further deterioration. He concluded by warning against further delay, stressing that the future of Libya depends on a serious consensus between the legislative institutions and abandoning failed tracks of international dialogue. Tags: DivisionGovernmentlibyaParliament SpeakerPresidential Council
Middle East
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Middle East
OPEN// Egypt reaffirms support for UN-led political solution in Libya
CAIRO, April 11 (MENA) - Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates Badr Abdelatty met on Friday with his Tunisian counterpart Mohamed Ali Nafti and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Hanna Tetteh. The meeting was held on the sidelines of Abdelatty's participation in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum. During the meeting, the top diplomat emphasized the importance of the Libyan situation for Egypt's national security and interests, given that Libya is a direct neighboring country. He affirmed Egypt's support for United Nations efforts to initiate a political process aimed at resolving the crisis in Libya. Abdelatty stressed Egypt's efforts to support an intra-Libyan solution without foreign interference, or bypassing the role of Libyan national institutions, based on the reference of the Skhirat Agreement, leading to the simultaneous holding of presidential and parliamentary elections. He also underlined the importance of respecting Libya's sovereignty and territorial integrity, keeping it away from foreign interference, and the need for international efforts to enforce relevant UN resolutions calling for the withdrawal of all foreign forces, mercenaries, and foreign fighters from Libya, in a way that contributes to restoring security and stability. (MENA) M S H/M O H
Asharq Al-Awsat
07-02-2025
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
A Stable Libya Benefits Everyone
We have seen many calls for an end to interference in Libyan affairs, as well as many initiatives and attempts to restore stability to Libya. However, a serious and effective solution has yet to emerge. Most recently, we heard United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres echo these demands, calling on 'the countries intervening in Libya to stop interfering in its affairs. A stable and peaceful Libya benefits everyone, and only the Libyan people should have a say in who leads them. There is nothing to justify the perpetuation of the current state of affairs in Libya. It is true that the stability of Libya, which is home to Africa's largest oil and water reservoirs, would benefit its people and neighbors alike. Guterres is right: "A stable and peaceful Libya benefits everyone." Libya's wealth would indeed allow for its prosperity and make its surroundings more prosperous if its stability is enhanced. However, this shared interest was undermined when NATO toppled the Libyan state rather than removing Gaddafi's regime. The results were disastrous: chaos, the collapse of state institutions, the proliferation of weapons, and the spread of militias under foreign protection. This is not to suggest that Gaddafi's rule amounted to a golden age- far from it. His regime impoverished Libya, prioritized personal interests and turned the state into his personal fief. Today, we are seeing the beginning of efforts to restore the state and its authority in Libya, following the systematic chaos that has prevailed since 2011. This chaos was fueled by political Islamist groups that infiltrated the country through the 2012 elections, allowing those who had resided in the case of Tora Bora to move into the Rixos Hotel, the home of the General National Congress whose mandate had 'finished.' They refused to hand over power to the newly elected House of Representatives after failing to maintain a parliamentary majority that they had only won through lies and bribes in the first place. They were then emphatically defeated in the parliamentary elections, which led them to abandon democracy, as we have come to expect. They embrace elections when they win but resort to violence and weapons when they lose, as they did through the militias loyal to them. The General National Congress was thus transformed into the High Council of State, which was composed of the same ideologically driven members, through the framework of the Skhirat Agreement signed in Morocco. This amounted to the establishment of a parallel body (the unelected High Council of State) that shared legislative power with the country's elected parliament, in what was a political ploy orchestrated by the Muslim Brotherhood, masters of political deceit. This aggravated the Libyan crisis and plunged the country into political paralysis that continues to this day. The Libyan branch of the Muslim Brotherhood has been waging a relentless war against the army and military institutions since infiltrating power after February 2011, using the Transitional Council and the 2012 General National Congress as cover. During this period, the political Islamist movement- an alliance between the Brotherhood and the Libyan branch of al-Qaeda- seized control of the government, creating parallel military entities and banding militias into armed brigades, mirroring Lebanon's Hezbollah and creating a Libyan version of the organization.
