The country’s current political crisis stems from the failure to hold elections on December 24, 2021 and Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah’s refusal to step down. File | Photo credit: AP
The top UN official in Libya warned on Tuesday (August 20, 2024) that the political, military and security situation in the oil-rich North African country has deteriorated “rapidly” over the past two months, and there will be more instability without renewed political negotiations for a unified government and elections.
Stephanie Khoury presented a horrifying picture to the UN Security Council of unilateral moves by rival government forces in July and August, leading to mobilisation and threats of retaliation, and unilateral attempts to oust the central bank governor and prime minister in the country’s west.
Libya descended into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 ousted and killed longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi. The chaos that followed left the country divided, with rival administrations in the east and west backed by rogue militias and foreign governments.
The country’s current political crisis stems from the failure to hold elections on December 24, 2021, and the refusal of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, who heads a transitional government in the capital Tripoli in the west, to step down. In response, Libya’s east-based parliament appointed a rival prime minister who was replaced, while powerful military commander Khalifa Hifter continues to dominate the east.
Ms. Khouri warned the Council that “unilateral actions by Libyan political, military and security actors have escalated tensions, deepened institutional and political divisions, and complicate efforts to reach a negotiated political settlement.”
On the economic front, he said, efforts to replace the central bank governor are driven by the perception among political and security leaders and ordinary Libyans that the bank is “facilitating spending in the east but not in the west.”
He also pointed to the unilateral decision by the Libyan National Army, which is under Hifter’s control, to shut down the country’s largest Sharara oil field, “which led the Libyan National Oil Corporation to declare force majeure on August 7.” Force majeure releases companies from contractual obligations due to exceptional circumstances.
The National Oil Corporation accused local protest group the Fezzan Movement of responsibility for the shutdown. But several Libyan newspapers reported it was the result of Mr Hifter retaliating against a Spanish company that is part of the joint venture operating Sharara, after Spanish authorities had issued an arrest warrant for him accusing him of arms smuggling.
In one of the most recent political actions, some members of the east-based House of Representatives met in Benghazi on August 13 and voted to end the mandate of the Government of National Unity and Presidency Council in the west. Members of the House also voted to transfer the role of supreme commander of the armed forces to the speaker of the House of Representatives and endorsed his designated government in the east as the “sole legitimate executive” – a move that was immediately rejected by leaders in the west.
“The status quo is not sustainable,” Ms. Khouri told council members.
“Absent a renewed political dialogue leading to a unified government and elections, you can see where this is heading — more financial and security instability, political and regional divisions, and more domestic and regional instability,” he warned.