Libyan Political Dialogue Forum to end
The Libyan Political Dialogue Forum—held under the auspices of the UN in Geneva since Monday—will end today.
The forum is built upon previous inter-Libyan dialogues and will allow the 75 Libyan delegates, drawn from all political tendencies and regions, to choose an interim prime minister and a unified Presidential Council to lead Libya until elections are held in December. Currently, 21 candidates are vying for the interim premiership and 24 for membership to the three-member Presidential Council. Rivalry remains fierce in Tripoli between resigning Prime Minister Fayez el-Sarraj and current Minister of the Interior Fathi Bachagha. Despite these moves towards national elections, Libya remains deeply divided, with several agreements being concluded in recent years without implementation, raising concerns regarding the efficacy of the current process.
Long-term, if the current processes are successful, Tripoli will be able to turn the page on almost ten years of instability since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime. However, most of today’s candidates are at the heart of the conflict that has plagued the country since 2014, and the complicated voting process could lead to the rejection of the results as well as an outbreak of new conflicts or mobilisation of armed groups.
Wake up smarter with an assessment of the stories that will make headlines in the next 24 hours. Download The Daily Brief.