Libya’s interim Prime Minister, Osama Hamad, has issued a scathing rebuke of the United Nations Special Envoy to Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily, accusing him of clear bias and demanding his immediate recall from the embattled nation.
In a strongly-worded five-page letter dated February 15 and addressed to the UN Secretary-General and the permanent members of the Security Council, Hamad alleged that Bathily’s actions “ultimately do not lead to a solution in Libya.” He claimed the envoy has shown favoritism towards Libya’s Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU) at the expense of Hamad’s own interim administration appointed by the House of Representatives after the GNU’s mandate expired.
“Evidence of this is his exclusion of the Libyan government from the quintet dialogue he called for several months ago, despite it being the legitimate government appointed by the Libyan House of Representatives after the term of the National Unity Government ended,” Hamad wrote.
This prompted the boycott of the UN-led talks by Libya’s House of Representatives and its military leadership “as the talks did not respect this legitimacy,” the letter stated.
Hamad also forcefully disputed Bathily’s assertion to the Security Council that the interim government had closed 11 branches of Libya’s High National Elections Commission (HNEC) and was not cooperating on electoral preparations. He provided correspondence from HNEC’s president and Libya’s internal security chief showing continued engagement between the two sides.
In uncompromising terms, the interim prime minister accused Bathily of bias in favor of the expired GNU government, stating the envoy remained silent as they refused to hold elections as scheduled and presented “baseless arguments” to deprive Libyans of their constitutional right to vote. Hamad claimed Bathily was aware of the GNU’s “unprecedented wastage of public funds.”
“Solving the Libyan problem cannot be achieved through a policy of exclusion, favoring one party over another, and ignoring the will of the majority of the Libyan people,” Hamad asserted. He called for “completely remov[ing] Mr. Abdullah Batelli from the Libyan scene and choos[ing] a suitable successor whose primary concern is resolving the political deadlock, not personal interests or clinging to his own opinions.”
Hamad’s letter, which was accompanied by supporting official documentation, was copied to the leadership of Libya’s House of Representatives and its Administrative Control Authority. It has reignited long-simmering tensions between Libya’s rival administrations over legitimacy and control of state institutions.
The UN envoy’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Previous calls from some factions for Bathily’s resignation over perceived partiality have gone unheeded. With Libya’s political stalemate dragging on, the latest rebuke from Hamad’s camp will only deepen doubts over the UN’s troubled mediation efforts.