From Ghadames, which witnessed the historic agreement of the Libyan Joint Military Committee for a permanent ceasefire, 218News conducted an interview with the Acting Secretary-General of the United Nations in Libya Stephanie Williams, in which she talked about the most important developments in Libya, especially with regard to the current and upcoming dialogue tracks.
Ensuring success of a permanent ceasefire
Stephanie Williams explained that the guarantees that maintain the success of the military committee agreement are linked to the Libyan unity so that the Libyans will solve their problems and restore their country and their sovereignty, saying this will make a Libyan issue more than an international issue, as the Libyan Joint Military Committee set a timetable and demanded the withdrawal of mercenaries and foreign fighters.
According to Williams, this agreement expresses an elevation by the Libyan parties to live up to their responsibilities and actually respond to the results reached at the Berlin Conference and the Security Council resolutions.
The responsibility now rests on the international community and the countries and bodies responsible for bringing these mercenaries to Libya to respect the sovereign Libyan request, Williams added.
Issue of mercenaries
Williams announced that foreign mercenaries and foreign fighters would leave within three months and in Ghadames there was a follow-up on this matter in connection with the establishment of a sub-committee that would oversee the withdrawal of military forces from the front lines and the withdrawal of mercenaries and foreign forces.
She also indicated that that subcommittee will hold its first meeting very soon in the city of Sirte, which will also be the headquarters of the Joint Military Committee itself, stressing that the mission will join these talks. And it will be part of these talks that will be held in Sirte.
Crisis of legitimacy; fate of spoilers
Stephanie proposed a solution to the crisis of legitimacy in the current institutions by setting a stable roadmap that leads to the holding of national elections, and she saw that the spoilers are the ones who benefit from the status quo, therefore; this situation cannot continue because it means the continuation of the deterioration.
She cited the demonstrations in eastern, western and even southern Libya, where young people took to the streets after they had had enough.
Williams indicated that it is time for the political class to focus on its work inside Libya, instead of engaging in “political tourism” to different capitals, in the hope of obtaining some kind of support from outside the country.
Tunisia dialogues
“What should happen in Tunisia is a very firm road map towards elections with benchmarks,” with this sentence Williams placed the responsibility on the participants in the Tunis dialogue to decide whether this should be accompanied by new administrative arrangements in running the country.
Regarding the requirement not to run for any position by the participants in the dialogues, Williams explained that this condition will give very great weight to what will happen in Tunisia.
Williams revealed to 218News new details on the issue of transparency, as she announced that the dialogue sessions in Tunisia will be aired on TV.
House of Representatives’ role
Williams pointed out that this is the right moment for the House of Representatives to act in the event that there are decisions to be made regarding the new executive authority, as the House of Representatives must endorse that executive authority.
She emphasized that there is a very important role that the parliament should play, including moving forward to develop the election law so that a date for parliamentary elections can be set quickly.
Williams said that the “Skhirat Institutions”, referring to the bodies created by the Skhirat Agreement, had a role, but did not have a monopoly on decision-making.
She also indicated that the House of Representatives and the High Council of State were given a lot of time and space to do their work, but they were not successful in the decision-making process.
