The Libyan National Army of eastern commander Khalifa Haftar on Saturday made the announcement of “a final opportunity” to create a road map for conducting elections, a year after rival factions had given a nod to conducting the elections, Libyan al-Hadath TV reported.
A lot of Libyans believe that the country’s political leaders are not willing to resolve the endless political deadlock because conducting elections can remove them all from power.
“The General Command (of LNA) announces a final opportunity through which it will draw a road map and hold elections,” Haftar said, as quoted by the TV channel.
Haftar was addressing Libyans in Benghazi’s second-largest city, which is home to his forces on the independence’s 71st anniversary.
After the ceasefire in 2020, the rival western and eastern sides decided to conduct elections on December 24, 2021, and a new unity government was installed with the aim of reunifying divided national institutions. However, the process did not work.
Since the NATO-backed 2011 uprising in which Muammar Gaddafi was ousted and which led to the divide between warring western and eastern factions in 2014, Libya has seen little peace in the country.
WATCH| Gravitas | Libya Presidential Election: A farce?
After 2014, Haftar waged war against the west factions, which included a 14-month offensive for capturing Tripoli, which the internationally recognised government had repelled.
UN special envoy to Libya Abdoulaye Bathily, in a statement, had asked Libyan leaders “to agree on a solution based on a national compromise and avoid escalatory action that would threaten Libya’s already fragile stability and unity”.
(With inputs from agencies)
