Germany's Ambassador to Libya, Michael Ohnmacht, said that there is no alternative to elections in Libya, and stressed the importance of the need for international and Libyan efforts to facilitate holding the vote.
Ohnmacht added, in an interview on the Libya Al-Ahrar TV channel, that the role of the international community is always to support Libyan initiatives, explaining that “without this support, there will be no progress in the political process.”
He pointed out that “no country or political faction can prevent elections if there is a strong Libyan coalition,” saying that the international stance in 2019-2020 was worse than it is now, and that freezing the political situation is not in anyone’s interest.
Ohnmacht said that the political situation advanced rapidly in 2021 during the Berlin tracks, the Geneva Conference, as well as other events, indicating the connection between the security, economic, and political tracks and devising very strong laws, as well as the lack of will to achieve elections among the decision-makers prevented them from being implemented.
The German ambassador pointed out that "the gradual opening of the German embassy in Tripoli in 2021, which came after the Second Berlin Conference, and its full opening in 2023 is evidence of progress in Libya and the confidence of diplomats from various countries in the stability of the situation."
He called on what he described as international actors to examine the reasons for the failure to hold elections in December 2021, indicating that the responsibility is great for the international community, and that it is necessary to increase meetings between representatives of the Libyan parties on the various tracks to resolve the outstanding problems.
The German ambassador also stressed that the division in Libya prevented any economic development or growth, stressing the necessity of forming one unified government that would control the entire country. He also said that in order to achieve the goal of producing 3 million barrels of oil per day, political progress is necessary.
