Members of the UN-led Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) on Friday agreed to a transitional government that will oversee national elections at the end of the year, reported Anadolu Agency.
The LPDF was constituted in November last year in Tunisia to find a political solution to the Libyan crisis under the leadership of the UN Support Mission in Libya. It consists of 74 members, who represent the three main regions of Libya; Tripolitania (west), Barqa (east), and Fezzan (south).
“It is absolutely essential to unify Libya and to move onwards on the way to peace,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said during a news conference in New York. “The elections, of course, being a key element of that way to peace.”
The Libyan Political Dialogue Forum selected a new executive authority after two rounds of voting at the end of five days of talks in Geneva.
“Our bet was that you would be able to build a truly Libyan-owned solution,” said Stephanie Williams, the United Nations’ acting envoy in Libya.
She lauded the parties for overcoming their many differences and divisions and putting the interests of Libya and its people first.
The new executive will be made up of a three-member presidential council and a prime minister. It will work to ensure security and stability and create suitable conditions for a constitutional referendum, presidential elections, and legislative functions.
The Libyan dialogue forum elected Abdul Hamid Dbeibah as Prime Minister, Mohammad Younes Menfi, as President of the Presidency Council, Mossa Al-Koni as member of the Presidency Council, and Abdullah Hussein Al-Lafi as member of the Presidency Council.
The elected slate of candidates won 39 of the 70 votes in the final round, defeating a rival slate by five votes.
Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj congratulated the success of the Libyan Forum in the election of the new executive authority.
