Libya meet seeks support ahead of key elections
The presidential vote is set to take place on December 24, but legislative polls have been delayed, with a date to be set in the new year, amid wrangling between factions in the country’s east and west
TRIPOLI: Libya’s fragile unity government hosted an international conference on Thursday to drum up support as the war-battered country gears up for a landmark December election.
“Your presence is proof that we are on the road to peace,” said the head of the interim government, Abdelhamid Dbeibah, promising that the vote would be held “on time” and urging “respect for the results”.
Libya and the UN have been striving to turn the page on the violence that has wracked the country since a 2011 Nato-backed uprising toppled and killed ruler Muammar Gaddafi.
A ceasefire between eastern and western factions last year led to the unity government taking office in March with a mandate to take the country to elections.
“Tripoli has recovered. It is the capital of all Libyans,” Dbeibah said in his opening speech at the Conference in Support of the Stability of Libya, the first of its kind to be held in the country for years.
The presidential vote is set to take place on December 24, but legislative polls have been delayed, with a date to be set in the new year, amid wrangling between factions in the country’s east and west.
Foreign powers have backed various sides in Libya’s complex war, and the presence of mercenaries and foreign troops is one of the toughest obstacles to a lasting peace.
“There is no stability without full national sovereignty,” said Libyan Foreign Minister Najla al Mangoush.
The UN Under-secretarygeneral for Political Affairs, Rosemary Dicarlo, insisted on the importance of the December elections to “complete the transitional phase”.
She called on international organisations to send “special envoys to observe this operation” and to guarantee its transparency.
As Libya faces multiple accusations of mistreatment of irregular migrants, Dicarlo urged authorities to speed up the repatriation of refugees stranded there and to release migrants in detention.
Foreign powers have been pushing hard for the election to be held as scheduled, after the date was agreed at Un-led talks last year.
The meeting aims to “gather the necessary support, in a transparent way” for the vote, said Mangoush in a video published by her ministry on Sunday.
French Foreign Minister Jeanyves Le Drian was expected at the conference, along with officials from Italy, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The US was to be
represented by Yael Lempert, a senior State Department official.