Challenges facing the Libyan Government of National Accord

The difficult birth of the Libyan Government of National Accord in mid-December 2015 by means of Libyan Political Agreement or the “Skhirat Agreement”, which was internationally sponsored and supported by the Arabs, aims to put an end to the chaos witnessed in Libya in the years following the 17 February 2011 revolution against Muammar Gaddafi. This revolution had aimed to achieve the aspirations of the Libyan people for democracy, freedom and human dignity.

However, the Libyan government has been unable to exercise any form of sovereignty in Libya. Therefore, it adopted the Tunisian capital city as a headquarters for itself due to its lack of authority in its country. It is ironic that both Libyan governments, i.e. the government of the Council of Deputies, known as the “Tobruk government” and the General National Congress, based in the capital Tripoli, which have rivals for years, agreed, for the first time ever, not to allow the new Government of National Accord to perform its tasks. There were nine failed attempts by the new government to gain the confidence of the government in Tobruk, in accordance with the Skhirat Agreement. This pushed international and regional parties to directly pressure MPs individually, which resulted in 100 MPs signing a petition supporting the new government (there are 188 MPs), and this can be considered a legal loophole.

Last March witnessed a critical event for the Libyan National Accord government as it managed to reach a naval base on the shores of Tripoli, with the help of Italy, after it had been prohibited from arriving via the airport and Libyan air space was closed to it several times. Politicians believe that the new government’s arrival in Tripoli is a practical indicator of the laying of the first foundation for the success of the government as well as starting the process of ending the division and rebuilding the state institutions that were torn apart by the conflict.

The direct and large support for the new government is very apparent, especially from the Justice and Construction party, which is the Muslim Brotherhood branch in Libya. It was also one of the major parties in the Skhirat Agreement, despite the group’s relative reservations on directly supporting it. The major sovereign economic and financial institutions in Libya, along with the Central Bank of Libya, the National Oil Corporation, and the Libyan Investment Authority based in Tripoli, all declared their support for the government. This was also accompanied by the announcement of the Libyan Petroleum Facilities Guard Commander, who has rebelled against both existing governments, and who said he is willing to work under the legitimacy of the new government. In addition to this, 13 municipalities in the south and west declared their full support for the new government and their loyalty to it. There is also a pro-government position expressed by the major military formations, such as the Misrata Brigades and Al-Sumood Front, as well as some of the military forces and formations that formed as a result of the dismantlement of the Dawn of Libya forces which announced their support for the new government and protected the government in Tripoli.

It is worth noting that there was remarkable support from businessmen and traders in Libya for the new government after the country reached its worst economic situation since the establishment of the modern state, not to mention the important support of many Libyan citizens for the new government after suffering five years of conflict, bloodshed and destruction, which the ordinary citizens paid the price for.

All of this is in addition to the major global support for the new government from the international community. This includes the visit made by the Italian foreign minister to Tripoli to meet with the government’s Prime Minister Fayez Al-Sarraj. This was followed by a delegation of ambassadors from France, Britain and Spain, and the announcement of the US president’s envoy for peace affairs in Libya that 28 countries approved sanctions on the heads of the National Congress in Tripoli, against the Tripoli government, and against the Tobruk parliament, in order to put more international pressure on them to accept the Skhirat Agreement and refrain from hindering the work of the new government in Tripoli.

The new government’s arrival in Tripoli in an atmosphere of relative calm and the welcoming of important sectors acted as a new launch for the infant government. However, this government is still facing major challenges, the most important of which is gaining the confidence of the Tobruk parliament, which refuses to grant its confidence to the new government until amendments are made to some of the Skhirat Agreement’s terms, specifically Article 8 which stipulates that all the military, civil and higher security privileges and authorities outlined by Libyan laws and legislation are transferred to the Council of Ministers. This is considered by the Tobruk government as targeting General Khalifa Haftar.

Other challenges include the agreement over the security arrangements with the military formations that control Tripoli. Such arrangements include the withdrawal of armed formations from cities and residential areas and disarmament based on a specific time frame. This raises the suspicions of many formations as it may weaken them. In addition to this, many Libyan forces, most notably the Grand Mufti Sheikh Sadik Al-Ghariani and the Dar Al-Ifta office, believe that the government does not represent the Libyan masses and that international and regional forces imposed it after prior planning with neighbouring countries. They also believe that this will reinforce the foreign intervention in the management of the country, making the country subject to foreign orders and demands on one hand and may perhaps exclude and eliminate the Islamists from influence and government on the other. This could be labeled as a reproduction of Muammar Gaddafi’s rule of Libya.

There is also the economic challenge, which is the most important, as there is information that suggests that the spectre of bankruptcy is haunting state institutions. This is because the sole source of income for the country is the oil sector and the price of oil has deteriorated globally. There is also the issue of the disrupted major projects that need quick legal and financial treatment that may exhaust the country’s financial reserves that are being depleted day by day.

In addition to this, the government is facing the challenge of operating in Tripoli given the opposition expressed by the Tripoli government Prime Minister, Khalifa Al-Ghweil, the head of the National Congress, Nouri Abusahmain, and some members of the National Congress and their supporting armed military brigades present inside the capital city. This was expressed clearly during the Tripoli government’s announcement that it would dissolve itself in favour of the Government of National Accord but backed down from this less than 24 hours later.

Finally, the most dangerous and major challenge faced by the Government of National Accord under the leadership of Al-Sarraj is Daesh that controls the coastal and oil-rich city of Sarat (450 kilometres east of Tripoli) which also includes an airport and seaport and is less than 300 kilometres away from the Italian coast. This city has attracted supporters of Daesh in Libya, especially after they were expelled from the city of Darnah, and has a strange alliance with Gaddafi supporters in the city which was Gaddafi and his tribe’s stronghold throughout his rule.

Translated from Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, 27 April 2016.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.