The Italian parliament warned of the danger of the situation inside Libya in the event of a new postponement of the elections after two months, which would serve as a definitive sign of the will of the regional powers to maintain the state of chaos that continues until now.
The Italian warning about the situation in Libya came in conjunction with active American moves during the past days by Washington’s ambassador to Libya, Richard Norland, who conducted a number of meetings and phone calls to push for maintaining the momentum of the elections and setting a date in the near future.
The balance of American moves
“Washington did not interfere effectively in the Libyan crisis.” This is how Professor of Political Science at the University of Sirte, Abdel Aziz Aqeela, commented on the American presence in his country’s crisis, stressing that Washington’s presence, represented by the activity of Ambassador Norland, aims to repel any Russian influence and nothing more.
The professor of political science at the University of Sirte confirmed, during his statements to “Sky News Arabia”, that Washington’s move in Libya comes within the framework of pushing towards the international point of view, and providing support for the moves of the UN envoy, Stephanie Williams.
On Wednesday, the US ambassador to Libya had a telephone conversation with the Speaker of the Libyan Parliament, Aguila Saleh, in which he discussed the next steps in the electoral process.
Norland explained in a statement by the US embassy, that the next steps depend on the Libyan leaders, but the United States strongly supports the pursuit of a path that can lead to free, fair and inclusive elections, within 18 months of the time frame of the road map of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum.
The contact of the US ambassador with the presidential candidate, Aguila Saleh, comes after a number of parliamentarians confirmed his return to the presidency, after postponing the elections that were scheduled to be held last month.
At that point, Abdel Aziz Aqeela made it clear that Saleh’s return to parliament would not affect the form or work of the Road Map Committee, which communicates with the High Electoral Commission; In order to reach a new date for the electoral entitlement.
In the context of the US ambassador’s moves towards pushing to set the “confused date” for the presidential elections, Norland made a phone call on Wednesday to the head of the Libyan Presidential Council, Muhammad al-Manfi, to stress the importance of pursuing all options to maintain the momentum of the presidential and parliamentary elections, in response to the desire of millions of Libyans to exercise their right in voting.
During the call, the US ambassador praised the efforts of the Presidential Council in unifying the military and economic institution represented by the Central Bank of Libya, expressing his optimism about the efforts of the Presidential Council to unify through the national reconciliation project, in order to maintain stability in Libya.
Commission and the confused date
In the context of international and local meetings and gatherings to reach a new date for the presidential and parliamentary elections, Abu Bakr Ali Marda, a member of the Board of the High National Elections Commission, said that force majeure is still continuing, and the elections will not take place on the twenty-fourth of January.
A member of the Supreme National Elections Commission confirmed, during his statements to “Sky News Arabia”, that the date of January 24, was just a proposal by the commission in accordance with the text of Article 43 of Law No. 1 of 2021 to elect the head of state.
Ali Marda added that in the event that elections cannot be held on the specified date, another date will be set within 30 days of that day on the proposal of the Commission and in coordination with Parliament, stressing that there is no sooner date for holding the elections.
A member of the High National Elections Commission continued, “Under these circumstances, I cannot make judgments about setting a specific date. The political scene is confused, and every agenda is different from the other… We are waiting for the results of the roadmap committee formed by Parliament.”
The state of anger continues in the Libyan street, east and west, to demand the presidential elections, followed by the parliamentary elections, amid a state of ambiguity over the decision of the date. chaos in the country.
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