The former US envoy to Libya, Jonathan Winer, said in an article published by the Middle East Institute that the future of the country still faces an impasse despite the end of clashes in Tripoli.
"Last week’s deadly clashes between two Libyan militias followed a cascade of destabilizing events, beginning with the Tobruk-based House of Representatives and the Tripoli High State Council agreeing last month to a new and deeply flawed political road map to elections." Winer said.
He added that for any roadmap to actually result in elections rather than more internal turmoil, the UN, major international actors, and Libyan political leaders would all need to decide that no alternatives were workable.
"Last week’s fighting between two militias in Tripoli, killing at least 55 people over Aug. 14-15, was merely another domino to fall in a cascade of destabilizing events that began in July." Winer said.
He added that in that month, the Speaker of Libya’s House of Representatives (HoR) and the High Council of State (HCS) agreed to a new and deeply flawed political roadmap to elections that would begin by replacing Libyan interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah with someone more to their liking.
"In response, the United Nations’ Special Envoy for Libya Abdoulaye Bathily called the road map unworkable and accurately predicted it would lead to violence." Winer explained.
