Libyan leaders unite to establish new government: summary

What we know

• On March 10, three influential Libyan figures announced that they had reached a consensus over the "necessity" of establishing a new, unified government to oversee the long-overdue elections in the North African country.
• The leaders are Aguila Saleh, speaker of the House of Representatives (HoR) in Benghazi, President of the Presidential Council (PC) Mohamed Menfi, and Head of the High State Council (HSC) Mohamed Takala, both of whom are situated in Tripoli.
• After an election that was supposed to take place in December 2021 fell through due to disagreements over the eligibility of the leading contenders, the political process to end more than ten years of conflict in Libya has come to a standstill.
• The three leaders urged the international community and the United Nations Mission in Libya to back their recommendations in a joint statement. They declared that they had decided to "look into controversial points" by forming a technical committee.
• After Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah's Government of National Unity (GNU) was established in 2021 with support from the United Nations, Mohamed Menfi assumed power; however, the parliament no longer acknowledges the GNU's authority.
• In the absence of national elections, Dbeibah has sworn to remain in control over the Libyan administration.
• To end the Libyan crisis, international diplomacy has been concentrated on pressuring the HoR, HSC, and GNU to step down and be replaced by presidential and parliamentary elections.
• The HoR was elected in 2014, whereas the HSC was constituted as part of a 2015 political accord and selected from a 2012-elected parliament.
• Since an insurrection supported by NATO in 2011 which was part of the First Libyan Civil War and led to the overthrow of long-term leader Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has seen little peace. In 2014, the country was divided into eastern and western sections, with opposing administrations in charge of each region.

What they said

President of the Presidential Council (PC) Mohamed Menfi told reporters after a meeting between the three Libyan political leaders in Cairo at the invitation of Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, "The measures that were agreed upon today, we believe, are a very important beginning. They are results that live up to the ambition of Libyans to hold elections."  The United Nations Mission in Libya also said in a statement released on December 24, 2023, to mark the 72^nd anniversary of Libya’s independence, “It also marks two years since general elections were not held in December 2021. Two-million-eight-hundred-thousand Libyans registered to vote in those elections, after more than a decade of instability, with hopes to renew the legitimacy of their state institutions and set the country on a path to durable peace, stability, and sustainable development. Libyan people are watching with growing frustration; they want to exercise their political right to vote in a safe and secure environment.”