Libya’s Parliament Speaker Says General Elections and Constitution Soon Ready

Libya’s Parliament efforts to withdraw international support from Fayez al-Sarraj’s government has received wide responses, said Libyan Parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh in an interview with Sky News Arabia on Sunday evening, December 15th, sending a message of reassurance to the residents of Tripoli with the start of the operation to liberate the capital.

The Sarraj government “is lacking the legal basis, as it did not receive the confidence of the parliament that represents the Libyan people, nor did it take the legal oath,” Saleh said.

He stressed that he urged UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres not to register the request sent by Turkey on the two agreements that Sarraj signed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Libyan parliament speaker expects that the United Nations will respond to his request.

Saleh pointed out that he will meet the UN envoy to the Libyan crisis, Ghassan Salameh, to directly inform him of the demand to withdraw international support from the Libyan government in Tripoli.

The parliament will begin holding a national reconciliation and forming a committee of constitutional jurists and intellectuals to draft the country’s constitution shortly, Saleh added.

In statements to the media from Cairo, Saleh affirmed that the Libya’s constitution to be drafted by the committee will meet the aspirations of the Libyan people and will guarantee freedom and dignity for future generations.

He stressed that the parliament, being the legislative body and the highest authority in Libya, will hold parliamentary and presidential elections through which the Libyan people can express their free will under international supervision, according to Al-Arabiya TV.

Saleh said that once the armed forces complete their tasks in clearing the capital, the parliament will start forming a national government represented by the three regions to solve the country’s crises.

Saleh called on the Libyan people “to reunite for the sake of a free, democratic, and civil state,” urging them not to listen to rumours and not to allow foreign interference in their affairs.

“Your armed forces are now advancing towards the last strongholds of terrorist groups and armed militias, responding to people’s calls. We will liberate the capital and are calling on its people to stand beside the armed forces,” said Saleh.

He also called on the United Nations, African Union, European Union, and Arab League to understand the reality of the situation in Libya and stand with its people.

Saleh, who is in Cairo visiting his Egyptian counterpart, Ali Abdel Aal, discussed the latest developments on the Libyan scene and the implications of the agreement that the head of Libya’s Government of National Accord, Fayez al-Sarraj, signed with Turkey.

On the sidelines of the World Youth Forum in Sharm el-Sheikh, Saleh delivered an official message to his Egyptian counterpart stressing the invalidity of the agreement, highly valuing the Egyptian parliament’s role in denouncing it, and demanding that it withdraws its recognition of the Sarraj government.

For his part, Abdel Aal affirmed Egypt’s understanding of the true situation in Libya, considering the Libyan parliament as the only legitimate entity representing the Libyan people and stressing the Egyptian parliament’s support to the Libyan National Army in its war against terrorism.

Saleh’s meeting with his Egyptian counterpart came immediately after his return from Greece, where he met the Greek parliament speaker, who invited him for a meeting to discuss the repercussions of the two controversial memoranda of understanding signed between Erdogan and Sarraj.