On May 10, 2022, the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs (ECFA) hosted Mr. Mohammed Al-Dairi, former Libyan Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, to talk about developments in the internal situation in Libya and opportunities to reach consensus on contentious issues, the positions of various regional and international powers, and the potential impacts of the Russian-Western conflict over Ukraine on the chances of settling the crisis. The meeting was opened by Ambassador Dr. Mounir Zahran, ECFA Chairman, and attended by a number of ECFA members including ambassadors, academics and researchers interested in the Libyan issue and its developments.
The guest reviewed the developments of the Libyan scene since the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum was held in February 2021, in which 75 Libyan members representing the Libyan political and social spectrum participated, which resulted, through an electoral mechanism approved by the UN mission led by Stephanie Williams on Libya, in the selection of Mohamed al-Menfi as the head of the Presidential Council, and both Abdullah Hussein Al-Lafi and Musa Al-Koni as his deputies, and Abdul Hamid al-Dbeibeh as head of the interim transitional national unity government, as the task of the new entities was to achieve national reconciliation, manage the transitional period, and ensure the provision of services until the presidential elections on December 24, 2021. There was international, and even a strong Libyan, consensus regarding these developments, while the government won the confidence of the Libyan parliament on the tenth of March 2021. However, the Libyan scene since then involved many measures that prevented the holding of these elections on the planned date, and in turn contributed to the complication of the crisis, given the inability of al-Dbeibeh government to assume its responsibilities as desired, and its failure to provide services to the Libyan people, even in Tripoli itself. This resulted in the selection of Fathi Bashagha as prime minister by the Libyan Parliament at the beginning of March 2022, which led to an increase in tensions in the Libyan arena between the east and west of the country.
Al-Dairi also indicated that just as Turkey and Russia have a presence in Syria, they have a similar presence in Libya, taking into account that while Russia has the upper hand in Syria, Turkey has the upper hand in Libya, without underestimating the Russian Wagner forces that accompanied Saif al-Islam Gaddafi while submitting his candidature documents for the failed presidential elections. On the other hand, it is hoped that the efforts made by Egypt, and its hosting of the initiative announced by the UN mission in Libya, on March 4, to form a joint committee from the House of Representatives in Tobruk and the Supreme Council of State, will be realized, in order to establish a constitutional basis that leads the country towards elections – to achieve success in converging views between the Libyan factions, in a manner that spares the Libyan territories further bloodshed.
