timesofmalta
Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan appealed for Libyans to avoid
violence in settling a standoff over their interim Parliament, whose
mandate was due to run out late yesterday with the country deeply
divided over its future.
Two-and-a-half years since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya’s
democratic transition is in crisis, the government hamstrung by
infighting between Islamists and nationalists and the nascent army is
often unable to assert authority.
Militia in the east have blockaded oil exports – the country’s main
revenue lifeline and security remains a concern, highlighted by Zeidan’s
own abduction last October.
“I urge all citizens to be committed to peaceful means, all demands
can be implemented peacefully and through dialogue,” Zeidan said in a
statement.
“The government is at the command of the people. We will implement the people’s will no matter what it will be.”
First elected in 2012, the General National Congress or GNC was
supposed to end its term on February 7. But its members have extended
its mandate to allow a special committee time to draft the constitution
seen as a key step in Libya’s transition.
Many Libyans feel the GNC has made no progress with the legislature
deadlocked between the nationalist National Forces Alliance (NFA), and
the Justice and Construction Party (JCP), the political arm of the
Muslim Brotherhood.
Two major Libyan rival former militia brigades – the Zintanis and the
Misratans – are loosely allied respectively with the NFA and with the
Islamist leadership.
Signalling its concern about political instability, the United
Nations mission in Libya said in a statement that political leaders,
revolutionaries and public leaders should prevent the use of violence
“as a means of political pressure or resolving differences”.
“Whatever the differences, safeguarding the legitimacy and avoiding
disruptions of institutions are a national responsibility that rests
with everyone,” it said.
Late yesterday soldiers from the Libyan army barricaded off access to the GNC building and the road leading to the parliament.
Complicating Libya’s transition, scores of brigades of former rebels
who once fought against Gaddafi and refuse to disarm, have allied with
competing political factions often using military muscle to pressure
their demands.
One former rebel commander has occupied key oil ports in the east of
the country, cutting off around half of Libya’s oil export capacity to
demand more autonomy and a greater share of petroleum wealth for his
region. Highlighting the tense security situation even in the capital,
unidentified gunmen tried to storm the Libyan army’s command
headquarters in Tripoli on Thursday, exchanging gunfire with soldiers
before stealing rifles and military vehicles.
