Guma el-Gamaty, a politician who heads the Taghyeer Party in Libya, has written an article for the Middle East Eye exploring UN envoy Ghassan Salame call for elections in 2018. In the piece el-Gamaty details some of the unanswered questions surrounding the proposed elections:
Therefore, the UN's call for elections in Libya in 2018 without addressing the underlying causes of violence and instability is effectively putting the horse before the cart.The UN left key questions unanswered, such as who is going to provide security for a free peaceful election? Will the armed groups, that wield the real power in the east and west of the country, respect the free will and choices of the people, or will they interfere in the process to impose their own preferences?Are elections a goal in themselves, or should they constitute a final stage following more crucial phases of reconciliation and consensus-building based on a social contract for power and wealth sharing?Without a strong impartial security mechanism in place and judicial institutions overseeing and safeguarding the outcome, elections would be meaningless and even a retrogressive step that may lead to more divisions and violence.
Click here to read the article in full.