By: A Omar Turbi, Expert, International Relations, Former Advisor, National Transitional Council - Oct. 10th, 2020
Libyan Political Experts & Rights Activists put the United Nations on Notice!
Benghazi, Oct. 10th, 2020: Prominent Libyan figures have put the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) on notice “Libyans do not trust the United Nations due to its past failures. It needs to earn the trust and confidence of the Libyan people. Transparency and proper Electoral and Public Deliberative Processes are mandatory in guiding the Return to the Political Process in Libya” Libya Expert Team told a senior official with UNSMIL in a meeting on Thursday October 1st, 2020.
A Omar Turbi, Expert, International Relations, Former Advisor to the National Transitional Council, and a leading member of a prominent Libya Expert Team, other members are: Mohamed Eljarh, Libya Political Analyst & Researcher, Ibrahim Hiba, Researcher, Comparative Politics, Dr. Amin El-Huni, Human Rights Activist, Dr. Mohamed Al-Tainaz, Former Deputy Minister of Defense, and Judge Mohamed El-Megherbi, Former Deputy Minister of Labor have submitted a raft of recommendations to UNSMIL, and to the parties of the conflict. They are intended to strengthen the Return to the Political Process adopted at the international conference in Berlin in January.
The Berlin Conference called for “the establishment of a functioning Presidency Council and the formation of a single, unified, inclusive and effective Libyan government approved by the House of Representatives.”
The Berlin Conference called for “the establishment of a functioning Presidency Council and the formation of a single, unified, inclusive and effective Libyan government approved by the House of Representatives.”
Equally as important, the Team says are initiatives to consolidate a ceasefire, ensure an international arms embargo is enforced, economic reform and respect among all parties for international humanitarian law and human rights.
The Libya Expert Team, recommends two critical processes under United Nations auspices: an Electoral Process and a Public Deliberative Process to give the Libyan people confidence in their political leaders.
The Libya Expert Team’s Electoral and Public Deliberative Processes recommend a fifteen-member Competence Committee of international legal figures and NGOs to be appointed by the UN to help with vetting candidates for political office. This proposed Committee consists of 5 members from the Arab countries and Africa, 5 members from the USA and Europe, and 5 members from South America and East Asia. The vetting and qualification work of the Committee would be free from tribal and political extremists’ influence, and regional considerations. It would rigorously look at the credentials of each candidate for the office for Presidential Council, the Prime Minister, cabinet ministers, and senior government posts. It also points out that institutions such as the Carter Center for Democracy have experience of the required NGO work.
Speaking to the Libyan network 218News on September 24, Eljarh said: “It is the responsibility of each and every Libyan to demand from the United Nations and United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) complete and total transparency and respect for the will of the Libyan people.”
Eljarh added “We need fair and legal processes intended to run every candidate through a rigorous and extensive vetting and qualification process.” Many Libyans call for the exclusion of former government officials from participating.
The Team is critical of the current UN-guided process, which it says lacks transparency and fails to vet political candidates. It is concerned that another weak government will be installed, similar to the Government of National Accord (GNA), which extended its tenure by four years and took office in December 2015 has failed to exercise authority and responsibility.
The emergency government proposed by the Libya Expert Team would assume power for 24 months and comprise a Presidential Council, Prime Minister and cabinet not to exceed 15 ministers.
Stability and peace in Libya will not be realized without a capable, competent and an effective government. The Libya Expert Team notes the enormous challenges currently faced by Libyans: the absence of a constitution, a fractured House of Representatives, lack of viable legal systems, corrupt and ineffective central government, the presence of rogue militias, and more than15,000 foreign mercenaries. “Persistent interference by foreign powers has also contributed to the continued “Failed State” status of the nation of Libya,” the Team notes.
The agony and suffering of the Libyan people have been propagated and prolonged by the deep mistrust between political figures in western and eastern Libya. This lack of trust is compounded by blatant influence and interference from their respective domestic and foreign allies.
The Team says that current antagonists in both east and west of Libya need to give way to figures who are competent technocrats capable of beginning the process of rebuilding Libya.
“Adopting our proposed processes at this critical time can serve as the bedrock of democratic reforms in Libya for generations to come” says a member of the Libya Expert Team, Dr. Ibrahim Hiba, a prominent scholar in Comparative Politics & Libyan Political Affairs. “Human Rights and the Rule of Law are the most essential elements of any civilized society” stressed, Dr. Amin El-Huni, a founding member of the Libyan Human Rights Commission, and a member of the Libya Expert Team.
We pray that the process we recommend will encourage public confidence, the participation by qualified candidates in the political process, and the establishment of effective government free from tribal influence, regional considerations and political extremism. Twitter
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