Prime Minister of the Government of National Accord (GNA), Faiez Sarraj, declared his full support on Monday to unify military institutions, but demanded that the extent of authorities of the military General Commander must be clarified.
The announcement came during negotiations to unify military institutions held in Cairo Oct. 17-21, the spokesman for the Presidency Council, Mohammed al-Salak, said at a press conference at the Prime Minister Office in Tripoli.
“The prime minister is continuously following up these important negotiations with the GNA army officials [to unify military institutions],” Salak said.
The spokesman revealed that a plan has been set to put the security arrangements into action.
Sarraj, also the Chairman of the Presidency Council, follows up the economic reforms carried out with the Central Bank of Libya, Salak said, adding that reducing fuel subsidies will be part of the reforms to ease the burden on the national economy and to combat smuggling.
The negotiations were held in Cairo set a draft to unify the Libyan army, controlled by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar and most empowered in the east, and restructure the Presidential Guard, based in Tripoli.
Per the draft, the Presidential Guard is designed to protect the head of the state, members of government and guests of the country, the legislative council’s headquarters, and the diplomatic missions in Libya.
The draft stipulates that the General Commander, who is assigned by the House of Representatives (HoR), will maintain his position for 4 years.
The draft firmly bans the formation of a parallel army and allows all parties to join military institutions. Law and decrees regulating the military institution will be issued by military legislative and executive authorities.
It also proposes establishing a national security council, a national defense council, and a general commanding council led by the military.
In 2016, UN-backed Tripoli Government of National Accord (GNA) established per the Skhirat agreement, formed a new military force, the Presidential Guard, which by law does not have any political alignments. It only aims to protect government buildings, border posts, vital installations and sensitive sites including maritime, air and land borders.
GNA announced that the guard will be based in Tripoli and its police and army members will be selected from different regions across Libya, as well as local militias. The Presidential Guard expanded as it became in charge of securing strategic sites, borders and government institutions nationwide.
Through the Presidential Guard, GNA has sought to control Libya’s key institutions such as the Central Bank of Libya, airports, ministries and the Prime Minister’s office, and to eliminate reliance on scattered militias, as well as to unify the Libyan army.
Libyan crisis
Since Muammar Gaddafi’s ouster in 2011, Libya has spiraled into civil war between its political parties competing for the power and divisions inside its army.
There have been two major factions on the ground since 2014; one led by Haftar, commander of the Libyan National Army, who now controls the eastern side of Libya in cooperation with the government of the House of Representatives (HoR), also known as the Tobruk government.
The other is led by Faiez Sarraj, head of the UN-backed Libyan Government of National Accord of the General National Congress (GNC).
Meanwhile, the Islamic State (IS) and other terrorist groups have taken advantage of the conflict and established a foothold in the country, posing threats to Libya’s neighbors.
To put an end to the civil war and to establish a national unity government, Skhirat agreement was signed in December 2016 between the political factions involved in the conflict under the supervision of UN envoy Martin Kobler in the city of Skhirat, Morocco.
However, the agreement failed to achieve its purpose because it lacked consensus between the two parties, as it only recognized the GNA led by Sarraj.
In December 2017, Haftar declared the expiry of the agreement, refusing to recognize Sarraj’s government.
“The validity of the so-called political agreement – and all the bodies emanating from it – has expired,” the Field Marshal said.
He added that the HoR government in the east will not submit to any party unless its gains “legitimate power.”
Hence, Egypt held several meetings with Libyan political factions to resolve the crisis and amend the agreement, most recently, the 7th round of negotiations in Cairo that produced the unifying draft.
