The National Unity Government has expressed its concern that preventing its meeting in Benghazi represents “an opportunity for those who seek the collapse of the political process.”
The government said in a statement that it followed with “great interest the incident of preventing the plane carrying the head and members of the national unity government from landing at Benina Airport in Benghazi on Sunday, which came after a prior announcement and arrangement of the government’s intention to visit Benghazi and inspect the conditions of its people.
The statement added: “It is regrettable that any party seeks to continue the state of political division, the disintegration of the state and the blackmail of its institutions, and we are confident that there is no interest for any national party for Libya to enter the cycle of division and violence again.”
The government affirmed that its stance “in support of stability grows stronger whenever the political process in Libya is subjected to attempts to corrupt and stop it,” indicating that this position “is in harmony with the majority of the Libyan people who reject the continued obstruction and political blackmail that hinders all attempts to go to development, national reconciliation and restore national sovereignty.
The statement continued: “We promise our people that these difficult circumstances will pass and that their demands for a decent life will be fulfilled.”
The government stressed its adherence to “the right of all Libyans to oppose any political authority in the country within the framework of freedom of expression that rejects the use of violence and sabotage to express opposition.”
It concluded its statement by saying: “We realize that Libya is living a historic moment in which there is no room but work for its east, west, south and north, and there is no room for stirring up discord or going back and abandoning our pledges to the Libyans to build, achieve justice and establish national reconciliation.”