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By Sami Zaptia.
London, 30 October 2020:
The internationally unrecognized breakaway Tripoli-based Libyan parliament, the House of Representatives (HoR), and the (internationally recognized) High State Council (HSC), have called upon the internationally recognized Libyan Prime Minister, Faiez Serraj, not to resign by the end of this month.
The call came in two letters, most likely coordinated, published by the two bodies on Wednesday (28 October).
The letters cited the uncertain current situation, the fear of a political vacuum and the Coronavirus, as reasons for their demand.
It will be recalled that in a pre-recorded televised address on 16 September, Serraj had announced his ‘‘sincere desire to hand over his duties to a new authority (government) no later than next October’’.
The announcement had come on the back of growing anger in the country at the failure of the Serraj government to find solutions to the country’s multitude of problems. These were headed by the acute and ongoing power cuts. Analysts had concluded that Serraj’s offer to handover to a new government was designed as a sedative to reduce anger and demonstrations.
UNSMIL hopes that ‘‘Sarraj will continue to serve Libya by continuing his work as prime minister and remain until the time when the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum decides to appoint a new executive authority.’’
However, it must also be recalled that in a statement on 25 October welcoming the start of the virtual Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) the next day, UNSMIL had said that ‘‘The ultimate goal of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum is to find consensus on a unified executive authority and on the arrangements for national elections to be held in the shortest possible time frame in order to restore Libya’s sovereignty and give democratic legitimacy to Libyan institutions’’.
‘‘In this regard, in order to ensure an orderly and smooth transition of power in the preliminary phase, the UNSMIL reiterated its thanks to Faiez Sarraj, the internationally recognized Libyan Prime Minister, for his support of the political process and his sense of responsibility for ensuring an orderly and smooth transition of power. It hoped that Sarraj will continue to serve Libya by continuing his work as prime minister and remain until the time when the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum decides to appoint a new executive authority.’’
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