Feb, 1st 2021 – Delegates from Libya at UN-sponsored talks in Geneva are beginning the process of choosing a temporary administration that would run the country until elections in December.
They will have until Friday to select a prime minister and a three-member council. Forty-five candidates have put themselves forward. They’re drawn from the two rival administrations that have been vying for power in the divided country, one in the capital Tripoli, and the other based in the east.
The Prime Minister will however remain in position until national elections which will be held in December this year. One of the technocrat candidates, Moin Kikhia said that he was concerned by the allegations that votes will be bought.
In an interview, he said, “In previous meetings there have been allegations of votes being bought for $1m. I can not and would not pay $2 for a vote. The UN promised to investigate the allegations, but no report has ever been published. It is very difficult for ordinary Libyans, fed up with corruption, to trust the process, especially when the rules are being made up as we go along.”
“Anyone taking a leadership role in this administration must harbour no political ambitions for the subsequent election. Our role is to shape a stable, peaceful, increasingly prosperous future for this country, and to ready it for free and fair elections. When this is achieved, our job will be done,” he added.
UN has set five days aside for the forum to elect new leadership with some forum members, due to Covid restrictions, where they will be voting remotely rather than traveling to switzerland.