Libya’s internationally recognised Parliament voted against the UN-backed unity government, a move Foreign Minister George Vella said took the peace process back to square one.
Lawmakers in the eastern city of Tobruk yesterday rejected the unity government led by Fayez Serraj after 89 of the 104 members voted against it.
Dr Vella said the development was cause for concern because the prolonged uncertainty would allow Isis the space to grow stronger.
However, it did not come as a surprise in the wake of the international community’s insistence to close the peace deal by December despite opposition from various Libyan factions. “I am very concerned and saddened by developments because this takes us back to square one,” he said.
Eastern lawmakers said the 32-member UN-backed government included too many posts.
In a second vote they approved the UN-mediated agreement that outlines the transition process but rejected a clause that transfers military power from General Khalifa Hafter to Prime Minister Serraj.
The EU may have to refine its approach and diplomacy
Lawmaker Mohamed al-Abani told Reuters the proposed administration did not represent the interest of the Libyan people but had been formed “according to the demands of militia leaders”.
Since 2014, Libya has had two competing parliaments and governments, one based in Tripoli and the other in Tobruk. Both are backed by loose alliances of armed groups and former rebels who helped topple Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The division has allowed Islamic State to gain a foothold in the coastal city of Sirte.
Dr Vella has always urged caution amid the international community’s euphoria over the peace deal signed by both sides of Libya’s political divide last December.
A joint appeal made by the heads of the two rival Libyan parliaments, which met in Malta last month, urging the UN to go slow were ignored.
Dr Vella said the idea held by some that the international community could dictate matters and the Libyans would play ball was not the reality he knew.
“The EU may have to refine its approach and diplomacy to understand better the complex realities in Libya and the prevalent mentality,” he said.
Dr Vella said that Malta was fully committed to the UN process but insisted any talk of sanctions by the EU risked backfiring at this stage. “Malta will not block the EU from applying sanctions, and it will go along with the majority, but I have to present the reality as we see it.
“Any talk of sanctions would bring down the shutters in Libya,” he said, adding dissenting Libyan voices could not be ignored.
kurt.sansone@timesofmalta.com