Stalemate has returned to infiltrate the Libyan political track, after it recovered a lot last June, following the end of the battles in western Libya with the withdrawal of the Libyan National Army from Tripoli and areas in the west.
More than two months ago, the UN envoy to Libya, Stephanie Williams, launched serious political negotiations when it gathered 75 figures in Tunisia; to discuss how to unify the government and reduce the Presidency Council seats that were scattered in 2015 due to the de facto situation, marginalization concerns and the aspirations of the authority.
The difficult talks are still taking place in terms of form, but in terms of content they have almost stalled because of the divergence of views among the participants in the negotiation process, which was launched with high enthusiasm, great intention and serious aspirations from those who stood in the back watching, supporting the endeavor to exchange words instead of bullets, which had been a common feature of negotiations for years.
There are obstacles facing the mission-sponsored political dialogue. The challenge became great, especially with stalemate and lack of morale, while Williams ordered to go into the details, through the formation of two “legal and advisory” committees, which would work to overcome difficulties, bring points of view, and refine the differences that were caused by the apparent discord.
Today, the political path leads to one of two directions, either the direction of consensus of the 75 members whose meetings have become virtual, or the direction of restoring the current Presidency Council with Fayez Al-Sarraj remaining president, and the formation of a separate government, the head of which is affiliated with the eastern region.
There are obstacles in the political track, and these obstacles have been caused by the lack of confidence, the rejection of concessions, and the conflict of interests of foreign countries, which might take the war-torn country to square one; the square of chaos and war.
