Al-Arab newspaper cited well-informed Libyan sources as saying that the UN advisor, Stephanie Williams, is working to use the roadmap committee formed by House Speaker-designate Fawzi Al-Nuwari to cancel the presidential and parliamentary elections.
Al-Arab added in its report that, according to the same sources, some Arab countries and a number of permanent members of the Security Council prefer to focus on setting a new date for the presidential and parliamentary elections, and above all, addressing the legal problems of forging documents and education certificates that prevented Emad Al-Sayeh, the Head of the High Elections Commission, from announcing the list of finalists for the candidates.
The sources added that Williams met hours before a meeting via the “Zoom” application with representatives of Britain, Italy, Germany, the United States and France, with the President of the State Council, “Khalid Al-Mashri,” and preceded this meeting with a meeting for members of the Parliament’s Roadmap Committee.
Al-Mashri reiterated his absolute rejection of holding the elections, saying that “the solution is in a referendum on the draft constitution, which the entire eastern region rejects, and that the cultural components of the Amazigh , Tebu and Tuareg refrained from participating in its preparation”.
Some observers fear that the constitution will fall in the referendum if it is conducted on the basis of the regions, which means returning it to the constitution drafting body, which will be required to amend the items rejected by the eastern region, and this process may take years.
The newspaper pointed out that the movements of the UN adviser and her failure to specify a clear vision and to send different messages after each meeting she holds will push her to clash with the position of the Libyan civil society, which began to raise its voice after a demonstration in the city of Tobruk in which activists demanded the holding of elections, opposing formation of a new interim authority and the conclusion of any political deal that would ensure the survival of the current political bodies.
The sources expected that Williams’ moves would also be met with the rejection of some candidates for the parliamentary and presidential elections who began to gather politically to support the options for holding the elections without delay, pointing out that some members of the House of Representatives in Tobruk will not support the outputs of the Road Map Committee, which is apparently moving in the direction to announce the failure of holding elections, restructuring the executive authority, and setting a date for a referendum on the draft constitution.
Meanwhile, Williams’ moves coincide with the revival of negotiations between Parliament and the High Council of State, amid expectations that this rapprochement will facilitate the termination of the legitimacy of the government of Abdul Hamid Dabaiba, who insists on remaining in power.
Al-Arab indicated that there is a conviction among the Libyan and international circles that it is impossible to hold elections, and that what occupies these circles now is no longer the elections, which are now in the process of being postponed, but rather the formation of a new executive authority or keeping the Dabaiba government, while observers believe that the political conflict and the risk of war erupting again remains an existing scenario in light of the continuing international competition over Libya and the lack of understandings among the major powers, especially Russia and the United States.
