A prominent member of Libya’s House of Representatives has warned that the country faces a stark choice between reviving stalled political talks modeled on the Geneva process or descending deeper into longstanding geographic and political divides.
Jabreel Ouheida, a lawmaker from the east Libya-based parliament, said in a statement to reporters on Tuesday that efforts to reach an agreement with the Tripoli-based High State Council on forming a unified national government appeared increasingly doomed.
“I believe in the coming period it will become clear this accord has failed,” Ouheida cautioned. “We are not heading towards elections, but rather a new round of dialogue along the lines of the Geneva talks to produce a government to manage the affairs of the states controlling matters in Libya.”
He outlined two scenarios – either reviving negotiations to seek a consensus government acceptable to the myriad Libyan factions and internal powers, or resigning the nation to further fragmentation.
In the latter case, Ouheida said the government of Osama Hammad would likely continue administering just the areas under control of the eastern-based House of Representatives and affiliated forces. He added this scenario could see “the rift in the political division increasing.”
The lawmaker stressed any national elections require a unified government, per laws approved by the House and the committee comprising equal representatives from Libya’s west and east.
However, he cast doubt on prospects for the two opposing legislative bodies to overcome internal divisions and external interference to agree on nominating figures for a temporary leadership to govern until electoral terms can be met.
“The countries controlling the Libyan crisis are hindering this agreement through their agents from the forces controlling the ground,” Ouheida alleged, suggesting foreign powers stood to derail further progress.