Libyan leaders agree to form new unified government

In a joint statement, the three leaders also called on the UN Mission in Libya and the international community to support their proposals

By Reuters
March 11, 2024
Mohamed Menfi, leader of the Tripoli-based Libyan Presidential Council, delivers a speech at Cop27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt on November 8, 2022. — AFP
Mohamed Menfi, leader of the Tripoli-based Libyan Presidential Council, delivers a speech at Cop27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt on November 8, 2022. — AFP

BENGHAZI: Three key Libyan leaders said on Sunday they had agreed on the “necessity” of forming a new unified government that would supervise long-delayed elections.

A political process to resolve more than a decade of conflict in Libya has been stalled since an election scheduled for December 2021 collapsed amid disputes over the eligibility of the main candidates.

The leaders are the president of the Presidential Council (PC) Mohamed Menfi, the head of High State Council (HSC) Mohamed Takala, who are both based in Tripoli, and Aguila Saleh, speaker of the House of Representatives (HoR) in Benghazi.

In a joint statement, the three leaders also called on the UN Mission in Libya and the international community to support their proposals.

They said they had agreed to form a technical committee to “look into controversial points”.

They met in Cairo at the invitation of Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

“The measures that were agreed upon today, we believe, are a very important beginning. They are results that live up to the ambition of Libyans to hold elections,” Menfi told the media after the meeting.