LibyaPolitics

Bashagha: Unity government took advantage of the weakness of the UN mission in Libya

The Libyan Prime Minister, Fathi Bashagha, said that the dialogue initiative that he launched received a response from several parties, after several dialogues took place with military, security and political parties, which achieved tangible results, expressing his willingness to dialogue with any political party or social component in Libya.

In an interview with Al-Araby TV channel, Bashagha attributed the obstruction to holding the elections that were scheduled to take place on 24 December last year, to the weakness of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, after the unity government headed by Abdel Hamid Dabaiba took advantage of this weakness. He pointed out that after naming the unity government in 2020, officials left their jobs and replaced them with others unfamiliar with the Libyan file, and the international community failed to hold the Dabaiba government responsible for the failure to hold the elections.

Bashagha added that the Libyan government came as a result of understandings, which he described as excellent between the House of Representatives and the High Council of State without UN sponsorship, pointing out that the international community and the United Nations were supposed to build on those understandings.

He commented on what is being circulated about the meeting of the heads of the House of Representatives, the Presidential Council and the High Council of State in the framework of working to develop a solution to the crisis in Libya, that they have the ability in this direction if they have the will, wishing the success of this meeting and that their decision be serious and independent, not linked to other countries, pointing out at the same time that what results from the dialogue of the three heads is not clear.

Bashagha stressed that if a constitutional track is agreed upon during the constitutional track meetings in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, his government will abide by this agreement to hold parliamentary and presidential elections, declaring his readiness to cooperate and his commitment to the specified terms, accusing some political parties of having no intention of holding the elections, by rejecting the presidential elections and adhering to parliamentary ones, which made them cling to the unity government, declaring his determination that the elections in Libya be presidential and parliamentary and at the same time, stressing the ability of his government to hold elections.

In response to a question about international support after meeting with a number of international officials, Bashagha indicated that the results of these meetings were good, pointing out that they had fears of a military conflict within Libya and the capital, Tripoli, which he stressed did not happen on a large scale.

He said the international community wanted to maintain calm and help  Libyans find a solution, adding that the wars in Libya were not a purely local decision, as they are always a decision from outside the borders, adding that Libyans want peace.

Bashagha stated that his government did not come for revenge or persecution, but rather will seek to integrate the militias, stressing that the government will open a new page in its dealings with them, starting from now, and will not look at the past for which the parliamentary and judicial authorities in the country will be responsible by removing the heavy arms from it outside the cities and legalizing the possession of the light weapons.

He also announced that his government will adopt a strategy of diversifying sources to support the state’s general budget, which was approved by the House of Representatives and also presented to the High Council of State, noting that the Governor of the Central Bank of Libya, Al-Sadiq Al-Kabir, cannot refuse to finance the budget, and he cannot be alone in the decision, for the decision is collectively taken by the administration. The bank, if rejected, will be outside the legitimacy and subject to penalties as stipulated by law, revealing the existence of international doubts in the legitimacy and transparency of the Central Bank.

Bashagha linked the wasting of funds on armed groups and imaginary companies, in return for the deterioration of services in the areas of oil fields and ports, and the wave of closures, which he described as an expression of the state of anger that prevailed among the residents near the sources and ports of oil export.

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