International conference on Libyan peace to begin in Paris

An international conference to pursue peace in Libya will begin today in Paris.

The conference is being co-hosted by France, Germany and Italy, and comes a month before elections that seek to resolve Libya’s decade of complex civil conflict. Through this, the international community aims to ensure the timely elections remains in place and to negotiate the evacuation of foreign fighters.

These goals may still be farfetched as Khalifa Haftar—the military strongman presiding over eastern Libya—illegally ratified an electoral law clearly intended to benefit him in the elections.

In the short-term, expect conference goers to push for the elections to be transparent, legitimate and on schedule as this is the best chance Libya has at resolving its civil war. This is because the December 24 elections do hypothetically provide a path towards democratic governance. Additionally, attendees are also likely to demand the evacuation of all foreign fighters from Libya.

If the fair elections do take place, Libya may be able to finally determine its rightful ruler and government on the international stage in the medium-term. However, if the elections are seen as illegitimate or fraudulent, then expect the conflict to be yet further entrenched in the medium- to long-term.

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