The Presidential Council is committed to talks between the conflicting authorities to resolve the crisis in Libya

The body asks to agree on a date to hold elections and “put an end to the signs of war and division”

July 6. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Libyan Presidential Council has authorized Abdullah al-Lafi, one of its vice-presidents, to begin a process of talks with the conflicting authorities to put an end to the crisis and agree to hold presidential and parliamentary elections.

The body has indicated that an agreed plan is necessary to guarantee a date for the holding of elections after the postponement of the presidential elections in December 2021, as well as to promote national consensus and trust between the parties.

“Maintaining Libya’s unity, putting an end to the signs of war and division, promoting peace and security, limiting foreign intervention and promoting a national solution are the main components of the ‘road map'”, he defended, according to The newspaper ‘The Libya Observer’ has reported.

The country has registered a series of demonstrations since Friday to demand the resignation of all the members of the current administrations and the formation of interim authorities to supervise the period until the elections are held.

During the protests, a group of protesters attacked and set fire to the headquarters of the Libyan Parliament in the city of Tobruk (east) on Friday, as part of a mobilization to demand the dissolution of the body, whose official name is the House of Representatives.

After that, the Prime Minister of Unity, Abdul Hamid Dbeibé, supported the protests from Tripoli. “The people know who is hindering the elections: the same ones who hindered the budgets, closed the oil tap and contributed to the exacerbation of the crisis they are experiencing,” he said.

The country is once again divided into two administrations after the House of Representatives terminated Dbeibé’s mandate due to the postponement of the presidential elections in December and appointed Fazi Bashaga to the post.

Dbeibé was elected as prime minister by the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) in February 2021, thereby replacing the then unity prime minister, Fayez Serraj, who agreed to cede his powers after the consultation process, initiated after a ceasefire agreement after the Tripoli authorities rejected the military offensive launched in April 2019 by General Khalifa Haftar, aligned with the authorities based in the east.