Libyan eastern commander Khalifa Haftar on Saturday announced a final opportunity to chart out a road map for elections, reported The Africa News. The statement comes a year after rival factions agreed to hold elections in the country.
It is believed that Libya’s political leaders are not taking any concrete step to end the political logjam because elections could push them all from power.
“The General Command (of LNA) announces a final opportunity through which it will draw a road map and hold elections,” Haftar said as he addressed Libyans in Benghazi city, which is home to his forces, on the 71st anniversary of independence.
“We recall that we are the first to call for free, fair and transparent elections, and the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) must shoulder its responsibility to solve the Libyan crisis,” Haftar confirmed.
The LNA commander said the people of Libya are capable of solving their problem and reaching a single unified Libyan state.
“The unity of Libya is a red line; we do not allow encroachment on it, and Libya is still one and indivisible,” Haftar noted out.
He called out all cities and regions of western Libya to hold a Libyan-Libyan dialogue and to reunite the people.
Haftar waged war on factions in the west after 2014, including a 14-month offensive to capture Tripoli which was repelled by the UN-recognised Libyan government.
After a 2020 ceasefire, the eastern and western factions agreed to hold elections in the country on December 24, 2021, and also installed a new unity government to reunify divided national institutions. But the process fell apart.
On Friday, the UN special envoy to Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily, appealed Libyan leaders to agree on a solution based on a national compromise and avoid escalatory action that would threaten the country’s already fragile stability and unity.
He urged Libyans to make year 2023 as a new era for the country by holding free and fair elections.
