On Monday, Libya’s Deputy Prime Minister-designate, Ali Al-Qatrani held a meeting with the Speaker of the Libyan Parliament, Ageela Saleh. This was to discuss ways of facilitating the work of the Parliament-designated government of Fathi Bashagha.
During the meeting held in Benghazi, Al-Qatrani welcomed Ageela Saleh’s “consistent patriotic stances, and his continuous quest for the independence of the Libyan decision.” He also hailed Saleh’s unlimited support for the Libyan government, “which came by Libyan consensus without any external interference.”
Al-Qatrani expressed the government’s keenness to ”implement the tasks entrusted to it to serve the Libyan people. In addition to its commitment to implement its plans, programs, and initiatives aimed at advancing the Libyan economy.”
The talks also dealt with the “mechanisms of the Bashagha government’s work, and the steps it is taking to provide proper services to all citizens across the country.”
On his part, Ageela Saleh affirmed his support for the Bashagha government, and expressed his “confidence in its ability to fulfil the aspirations of Libyans and hold fair Presidential and legislative elections as soon as possible.”
He stressed the need for the government to “exercise its work across all Libyan soil, especially after the budget law was approved by the Parliament.”
Libya is mired in a constitutional and political stalemate that has sparked increasing clashes, a dire economic situation, and demonstrations across the country by frustrated citizens, a senior UN official said last week.
The country was split into rival administrations, one in the east backed by the Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, and a Tripoli-based administration in the west.
An October 2020 ceasefire agreement led to the establishment of a transitional government in early February 2021. This is headed by Prime Minister Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba, and was tasked with scheduling elections for 24 December 2021.
The elections were postponed indefinitely, days before the vote was scheduled to be held. Dbaiba has refused to step down, and in response, the country’s east-based lawmakers elected Bashagha, who is now operating a separate administration out of the city of Sirte.