The newly appointed UN
representative in Libya had wanted to hasten the long-delayed polls, but his
plan has been met with resistance from the eastern-based parliament and a cool
response from its opponents in Tripoli.
Abdoulaye Bathily, a
diplomat from Senegal, informed the UN Security Council last month that he
intended to set up a committee to oversee the conduct of presidential and
legislative elections in Libya later this year.
But, his direct
criticism of the two houses of parliament in the North African nation for
failing to reach an agreement on a legal framework for elections has provoked a
backlash that threatens to thwart Bathily's intentions.
The opposition was
"expected," according to Khaled Al-Montasser, a professor of
international relations at the University of Tripoli because both chambers'
members might lose their seats and privileges in the upcoming elections.
Despite their rivalry,
both saw the UN initiative as an "attempt to impose international will on
Libyans" and an "intervention in their sovereign decision-making
capacity," Montasser told AFP.
Since the 2011
uprising that ousted dictator Muammar Qaddafi, Libya has experienced more than
ten years of intermittent conflict, with numerous opposing militias,
international forces, and multiple administrations vying for dominance.
The nation is still
divided between a reportedly interim administration in Tripoli, the capital of
the west, and one in the east that is ostensibly supported by military leader
Khalifa Haftar.
Even if the majority
of observers believe that Libyans strongly favour elections, heated disputes
about the legal justification for holding them have been a major sticking point
since the most recent significant conflict between Haftar and the western
Libyan forces in 2020.
The country's House of
Representatives, which is located in the east, enacted an amendment to its
interim constitution last month, claiming that it would give elections a legal
foundation.
Bathily, who was named
director of the UN mission in Libya UNSMIL in October, claimed that the
amendment was "controversial" among Libyans and lacked clarification
on important matters like who might run for president.
He also pointed out
that the High Council of State, the upper house of parliament with its
headquarters in Tripoli, had not approved it.
Bathily was criticised
by the House for having "double standards" and "lack of
impartiality."
The UN envoy's idea,
according to Libyan analyst Abdallah Al-Rayes, aims to put pressure on
competing Libyan factions by providing them one final opportunity before
"a vote goes place without them."
He declared, “The two
chambers are masters in the art of squandering time and political
horse-trading, and the international community wants to shame them.”
Abdelhamid Dbeibah's
transitional administration, based in Tripoli, has expressed its willingness to
accept Bathily's plan and asked the UN to give logistical support to that
purpose.
The UN proposal would
"build on progress established between" the two chambers "on the
legal framework for elections," the US embassy said in an online post last
week, calling on "important Libyan officials to approach the plan in a
constructive attitude."