The country’s current political crisis stems from the failure to hold elections in December 2021 and the refusal of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah who led a transitional government to step down. In response, the country’s east-based parliament appointed a rival prime minister, Fathy Bashagha, who has for months sought to install his government in Tripoli. The Dec. 24 presidential vote was postponed over disputes between the rival factions on laws governing the elections, and controversial presidential hopefuls. At the last Berlin conference in June 2021, where Germany and the United Nations brought together 17 countries, Libya’s transitional leadership headed by Dbeibah underlined its commitment to Dec. 24 elections. Guterres said that unfortunately “it was impossible to reach a full solution” to Libya’s political crisis through the Berlin process, “but it was possible to avoid the worst” and he supports another Berlin conference.

Source: Libya Today September 14, 2022 23:50 UTC