On Wednesday, the French Embassy in Libya announced that the French President’s Special Envoy to Libya, Paul Soler held a telephone call with the Libyan Prime Minister-designate, Fathi Bashagha. This was to discuss the latest political developments in the country.
During the talks, they stressed the need to maintain unity and stability, as a main step towards holding elections.
“The special envoy of the French President to Libya, Paul Soler, and the Prime Minister appointed by the House of Representatives, Fathi Bashagha, agreed on the need for unity and stability in Libya in order to hold safe Presidential and Parliamentary elections across the country, in line with the aspirations of the Libyan people,” the French Embassy said in a tweet.
On Tuesday, the French Ambassador to the United Nations, Nicolas de Rivière said that France would like to see a rapid resolution of the executive power crisis in Libya.
During his word at the Security Council, he added that the current status quo is unsustainable. “It carries risks for the stability of the country. The tensions between militias, which are increasing in Tripoli is proof of this. This crisis must be resolved, and a unified government must be established that is capable of conducting the electoral process throughout the country.”
He explained that there is an urgent need to put Libya back on the path to elections. “France supports the efforts of the United Nations to reach an agreement between the two chambers on a constitutional basis, in order to allow Presidential and Parliamentary elections to be held as soon as possible.” The Ambassador added that Paris continues to call on all Libyan actors to rapidly finalize an agreement, particularly on the eligibility of electoral candidates.
He stressed the importance of the withdrawal of all foreign forces and mercenaries as soon as possible, in accordance with the Libyan action plan. As well as the implementation of a demobilization, disarmament, and reintegration process, in conjunction with the region.
De Rivière stated that France also welcomes the reopening of the oil terminals, “the resumption of production and exports is an important step. France will continue to support a fair and transparent redistribution of revenues for the benefit of the population as a whole.”