Libya at the U.N.: A Divided Nation Struggles Through ‘a Decade of Suffering and Hope’

Mohamed Yunus al-Menfi, head of the Presidency Council that administers the internationally-recognized Libyan government, told the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday that his country remains fractured a decade after former U.S. President Barack Obama’s invasion, with constant threats of factional violence.

“Libya is going through a decade of suffering and hope,” Menfi said.

Although Menfi insisted his people have “demonstrated to the entire world that they represent a unified nation in spite of the challenges,” the rest of his presentation was a plea for the United Nations to intensify its efforts to stabilize Libya and make national elections possible, coupled with complaints about outside powers plundering Libya’s wealth and backing “intransigent positions” that “push our country toward armed confrontations.”

“Individual interests of different countries involved in the Libyan situation, as well as proxy wars and diverging views on how to solve the situation in Libya, have not given us an opportunity to develop our own national path,” he said.

Menfi conceded that dialogue between Libyan factions “still has not led to an agreement on the constitutional rules to be followed for the parliamentary and presidential elections.”

“These rounds of dialogue should not continue indefinitely. The Presidential Council is ready to intervene in the political process if necessary, to overcome the impasse,” he said.

The United Nations pronounced a “stalemate” in Libya last month, urging leaders of the rival governments based in Tripoli and Tobruk to “take immediate steps to resolve their political impasse, which is spilling over into increasing violence.”

The old Libyan prime minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, refuses to step down, while a prime minister appointed by the rival eastern government named Fathi Bashagha is attempting to enter Tripoli and take power. Militias loyal to Dbeibah and Bashagha have been clashing in the streets of Tripoli since late August, with dozens of fatalities and hundreds of injuries reported.

The U.N. reached the same glum assessment as Menfi, namely that Libya’s rival governments and militant factions cannot even reach an agreement on the most basic issues to establish a “constitutional framework for elections.” 

The most hopeful development on the Libyan political scene was a ceasefire that is mostly holding together, give or take a few Tripoli street battles.

Menfi said another positive sign was the restoration of “production of gas and oil in all Libyan regions,” which he presented as a boon to the world at a time of high gas prices. He called for “transparent and fair management of our oil revenue, which belongs to all Libyans.”

As Menfi pointed out, that oil money can — and has — become a “source of conflict” as feuding factions attempt to seize oil fields or poach revenues. 

“The goal is to have public funds not be a source of conflict, and for them to benefit all Libyans in every corner of the country, without geographical, political, or other distinctions,” he said.