The Prime Minister designated by the House of Representatives (HoR) to replace the current PM (Abdul Hamid Dbeibah), Fathi Bashagha, said unifying the military and security institutions would not be possible in the near future, adding in an interview with Russian news agency, Sputnik, that there could be a formation of joint patrols for specific targets under the supervision of 5+5 Joint Military Commission (JMC) to boost trust among the parties.
Bashagha was commenting on the 5+5 JMC meetings that were held in Benghazi and Tripoli recently, and he added that his government, which has not been recognized yet, always blessed any steps that would help unify institutions and end division, especially since they were the ones who broke the stalemate when they went to Benghazi in December 2021.
Regarding the file of mercenaries and foreign fighters, Bashagha said that it needed a solid ground based on the existence of a unified and elected executive authority, stressing the difficulty of forcing those forces to withdraw without international consensus, an effective mechanism from the Security Council and a real will from the Libyan national forces.
He also hailed the approval of the 13th constitutional amendment and the formation of the 6+6 committee to draft electoral laws, welcoming what he described "the legislative authority's commitment to the need to organize general presidential and parliamentary elections before the end of this year."
