On Tuesday, Libya’s new executive authority called on UN experts to publish the results of the investigation into corruption and bribery over the alleged vote-buying at the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF).
A leaked report of UN experts noted that two participants allegedly offered bribes of between $150,000-200,000 US dollars to at least three LPDF participants, if they promised to vote for Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba as PM.
According to the report, seen by AFP, the experts said that one delegate “erupted in anger in a hotel lobby in Tunis upon hearing that some participants may have received up to … $500,000 for their Dbaiba vote, whereas he had only received $200,000.”
The Presidential Council and the PM said in a joint press statement that they “demand the Panel of Experts (PoE) to publish its investigation into the allegations of bribery at the LPDF.”
The statement added that they “affirm their commitment to fight corruption by all legal means, and will punish anyone involved in the alleged corruption.”
Dbaiba and the PC confirmed that they would not allow those they described as “obstructers” to “exploit the current circumstances, thwart the results of the dialogue, and disrupt the reconciliation process.”
The LPDF consists of 75 delegates representing the wide spectrum of Libya’s population was launched in November 2020 in Tunisia, under the auspices of the United Nations.
On 5 February, the forum elected Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba as Prime Minister for the transitional period in Libya. The LPDF also approved a three-member Presidential Council headed by Al-Mnifi.