Libya: Chaos Continues

January 3, 2022
Miral Sabry Al Ashry


Postponing elections in Libya means more chaos, as the Libyan parliament postponed a vote on how to deal with the repercussions of postponing national elections after a chaotic session that reflected the fabricated political crisis over the fate of the peace process and instability.

The Libyan people still want the installation of a new president and parliament with national legitimacy. But given the contested candidates, political factions, and politicians over how long the elections should be postponed, possibly on January 24, 2022, and whether the interim national unity government headed by Prime Minister Abdel Hamid al-Dabaiba, can continue.

In addition, the problems are not addressed; it will be impossible to hold elections on that date, and this is what the stakeholders want. It is possible that Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah should not have been allowed to run for president after he promised when he took office that he would not do so. But it is possible that he would change his mind like what President Sisi did in Egypt in an attempt to save society.

The Egyptian strategy was represented in a fabricated crisis that cannot be reformed, and then a new trend rose to power and the media promoted it as the savior of Egyptian society from the Muslim Brotherhood. But in Libya, there are fabricated crises such as lack of energy and salaries and weak infrastructure. All of these crises make former political factions try to reach authority and that it is unfair for Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah to participate in the elections while he is still prime minister.

The main focus should be on elections and the democratic transition to bring the country back, not on the fate of the national unity government. However, there must also be an ‘equal opportunity and no candidate should have an unfair advantage and there must be an electoral platform while in an official role.

There is a crisis in the illegal immigrants appeared where he found the bodies of more than 15 bodies, including the body of an infant that was recovered from the shore who drowned while trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe and three survivors said that in total there were 35 people on board their boat that sank. Libya is a major transit point for illegal immigrants as a result of illegal dealings from the coasts, and this is an attempt to attract many African countries, which are looking for better job opportunities in Europe.

The situation in Libya seems likely to lead to more political instability, despite the steps taken by the Interim Government of National Unity and the Presidential Council in different and perhaps contradictory directions. The ongoing conflict is linked to external participation since 2011 and what the international community and the United Nations have done.

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Miral Sabry Al Ashry is an Associate Professor at Future University (FUE), Political Mass Media Department.