A meeting between the Libyan parties in Tunisia to untie the knot of the unified government

In the past few hours, about 50 representatives from the Libyan Parliament and a similar number from the “Supreme Council of State” arrived in Tunisia, where they will meet today, Wednesday, and tomorrow, Thursday, to discuss ways to form a unified government that will lead Libya towards elections in both its presidential and parliamentary parts.
Since the collapse of the project to hold general elections that were scheduled to be held on December 24, 2021, the Libyan parliament and several political circles have searched for an appropriate recipe to restore momentum to the electoral path. Among the conditions set for this is the formation of a unified government that extends its control over all parts of the country.
Parliament tried to accomplish this by recommending the “National Stability” government headed by Fathi Bashagha, who later stepped down, but this government failed to enter the capital, Tripoli, which includes most of the vital institutions such as the Central Bank and the National Oil Corporation, to become a parallel government.
This is one of the rare times that Libyans take the initiative to hold a meeting without external pressure, but Wednesday’s meeting, which will be held in the Tunisian suburb of Gammarth, will witness the presence of a delegation from the UN mission in Libya and foreign ambassadors.

Remove the bear

Libya, which has also been floundering in a financial crisis for months, has returned to the square of political and institutional division, where there is a government headed by Osama Hammad in Benghazi, supported by Parliament and not internationally recognized, and another headed by Abdul Hamid Dabaiba in Tripoli, both of whom claim to have the legitimacy to remain. But the turning point in this sharp dispute occurred recently, when the UN envoy to Libya, Abdullah Batili, said in his briefing to the UN Security Council that “there is no institution that enjoys legitimacy in Libya.” In his speech this February, Batelli continued, “The only solution to achieve security and prosperity for Libya is to form a new unified government that is not a government of the West or the East, but rather a government for all Libyans.”
This talk seemed like a green light for the Libyan parties to move towards forming a new government, something that Parliament and the Supreme Council of State accepted by calling for a meeting in Tunisia, which may pave the way for the two parties to converge. Member of Parliament, Abdel Moneim Al-Arfi, said, “The representatives and members of the Supreme Council of State have already arrived in Tunisia to participate in the meeting, the main topic of which will be the formation of a unified government away from the Dabaiba government.”

Al-Arfi added in an exclusive interview with “Independent Arabia” that “there are many new data that confirm the necessity of Dabaiba’s departure, including the report of the Governor of the Central Bank of Libya and the general briefing on the economic situation, the dinar’s situation, and the liquidity situation. All of this pushes towards the formation of a unified government and the removal of Dabaiba.” He stressed that “Al-Dabaiba believes that Libya has a mine of hard currency from which he can spend as much as he wants, and this is something that has plunged the state into a budget deficit, so he must leave and a unified government be formed, and then talk about electoral laws.”
According to information provided by Libyan sources to The Independent Arabia, this meeting will not witness the participation of the President of the Supreme Council of State, Mohamed Takala, nor the Speaker of Parliament, Aguila Saleh, but there are hopes that this meeting will lead to a meeting between the two opposing parties.

Technocratic government

Speculation began to circulate early about the nature of the next government, as Libyan political circles said that it should be a “government of technocrats,” that is, a government of competencies that will run the country in this transitional phase before holding general elections. A member of the Supreme Council of State, Saad Bin Sharada, said, “The Tunis meeting will confirm the outcomes of the 6+6 committee, which will be binding on all parties.” Bin Sharada pointed out in statements broadcast by Libyan media that “there will be an agreement to unify the government, so that it will be a government of technocrats whose mission is to supervise the parliamentary and presidential elections.”

Very slow process

Despite the optimism expressed by Libyan political circles regarding the possibility of forming a new unified government, the situation appears complicated in light of external interference and the continued chaos of weapons that the militias cling to.
If an agreement is reached to form a new government, all eyes will be on several countries, the most important of which is Turkey, which supports the forces of western Libya and whose word is considered influential in any possible settlement regarding the government.
Political researcher in Libyan affairs, Jalal Harchaoui, said, “Over the past few weeks, the Libyan atmosphere has been slowly moving against Dabaiba. Wednesday’s meeting in Tunisia between members of Parliament and members of the Supreme Council of State is another small step against him.”
Al-Harchaoui explained, “However, we should not expect this process to be quick or smooth, as things will be very slow.” The spokesman pointed out that “the change was driven by some Libyan groups, not by foreign countries, but Turkey, which remained silent, is monitoring the situation.” “Ankara may stop supporting Dabaiba, or it may continue to support him, we do not know.”