The Libyan Parliament-designated Prime Minister, Fathi Bashagha claimed his government was “seeking to advance reconciliation efforts, unify the country, and end divisions.”
The PM met with members of the National Union Party in Benghazi. He affirmed that his government is “working to continue the democratic path, and support reaching a constitutional base for Presidential and Parliamentary elections as soon as possible.”
The meeting discussed the need to “end administrative centralization, and search for fair mechanisms for distributing resources and providing services to citizens, without discrimination.”
Notably, incumbent PM of the Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba, claimed that his government would be able to secure elections in all regions of Libya. This came during his speech at an electoral simulation, in the presence of the newly appointed UN Envoy to Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily.
Libya has two opposing governments, each of them claiming that it is the only legitimate government in the oil-rich country. On 10 February 2022, the Libyan Parliament announced the unanimous appointment of Bashagha as the new Prime Minister. But Dbaiba warned that the appointment of a new interim government could lead to war and chaos in the country. He renewed his pledge to only hand power over to an elected government.
“The Libyans have the right to participate in the elections, and the opportunity should not be left to those who try to pass the extension projects, under the pretext of securing the elections,” Dbaiba said without mentioning any specific party. He thanked the Ministry of Interior for its participation in simulating the security of the electoral process, by presenting security scenarios and ways to deal with them.
“The simulation has dropped the argument of the inability to secure the elections,” he claimed.
The simulation included securing polling stations, inspecting voters, and confronting any riots inside and outside the polling stations. In addition to simulating the vote counting, and transportation of election boxes.