Head of Presidency Council Faiez Sarraj reiterated on Tuesday his support for U.N. envoy Ghassan Salame’s initiative to hold presidential and parliamentarian elections.
During his inspection visit to Zawya, located at Libya’s western coast, Sarraj called on Libyans not to miss the opportunity to reach stability and end repeated rounds of bloodshed.
Holding elections is a major challenge in a country still split among military and political factions, and where rival governments have claimed authority since the result of a 2014 vote was disputed.
In May, France persuaded power rival parties to agree to hold elections on Dec. 10; however, heavy fighting in the Libyan capital of Tripoli among militias have occurred since August, killing more than 100 persons.
“There is still a lot to do. It may not be possible to respect the date of Dec. 10,” Salame told AFP.
Libya remains divided between the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), based in Tripoli and led by Sarraj, and a rival administration in the east led by Khalifa Haftar that has support from Egypt, Russia and the UAE.
The Paris meeting brought together Sarraj and Haftar, as well as Aguila Saleh, the parliamentary speaker based in the eastern city of Tobruk, and Khalid al-Mishri, the head of the High Council of State.
The Paris agreement included a Sept. 16 deadline to come up with an electoral law, forming a “constitutional basis,” which is still under consideration as several parties oppose it, for a vote later in the year.
As an attempt to end division and hold elections, a national conference is expected in the upcoming period to reach consensus between rival parties and push for economic reforms.
In November, Salame hopes another attempt to hold an election will take place by June after he scrapped a December plan, but said Libyans should first use a national conference in early 2019 to decide on the poll’s format, according to Reuters.
