The Libyan Parliament Speaker, Ageela Saleh said that holding the Libyan elections on time and electing a new President is a “key step” towards the departure of Turkish forces from the country.
In an interview with Sky News Arabia, Saleh said that the main reason for Turkey’s insistence on staying in Libya is the agreement that the “illegitimate” Al-Sarraj government concluded with Ankara.
“We rejected this agreement and considered it as null and avoid. However, the Turkish side will only remove it by electing a new Libyan President,” Saleh stressed.
“The elected President will be able to take serious steps regarding the departure of the Turkish forces. Electing a new President is very important because he can reunite the state institutions and the army,” he explained, adding that Turkey is trying to “shuffle the cards” in an attempt to obtain gains.
He noted that those responsible for not reaching a unified constitutional basis for holding the elections “are the ones who do not want Libya to reach the parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for December 24th, because they know very well that they will leave the Libyan political scene after the election of a new executive authority.”
The Libyan Parliament Speaker stressed that holding the elections on time “is the only way out of the crisis that the country is going through.” He called on the international community to monitor the elections, and punishing those who obstruct the elections.
The Parliament Speaker revealed that the presidential and parliamentary elections law will be issued in the next few days. He added that any Libyan citizen who “satisfies the legal conditions” has the right to run for elections, stressing that no one will be excluded except by law and the constitution.
Saleh pointed out that “negative” external interference in the Libyan crisis is the main reason for the failure of the Geneva Conference, and the failure to reach a unified constitutional base.
He warned that if the government is unable to hold the elections, “there will be an intervention to fix what was wrong, and an alternative plan will be presented.” Saleh also confirmed his support for the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.