The Libyan National Conference was a planned meeting in
Ghadames
Ghadames or Ghadamis ( Berber: ''ʕadémis''; ar, غدامس, Libyan vernacular: ''ɣdāməs'', Latin: ''Cidamus, Cydamus'', it, Gadames) is an oasis Berber town in the Nalut District of the Tripolitania region in northwestern Libya.
The ...
for organising
elections
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...
and other components of a
peace process in Libya.
The conference was prepared over 18 months during 2018 and 2019 and planned to take place 14–16 April 2019.
It was postponed in early April 2019 as a result the
attack on Tripoli by the
Libyan National Army
The Libyan National Army (LNA; ar, الجيش الوطني الليبي, ''al-jaysh al-waṭaniyy al-Lībii'') is a component of Libya's military forces which were nominally a unified national force under the command of Field Marshal Khalifa ...
led by
Khalifa Haftar
Field Marshal Khalifa Belqasim Haftar ( ar, خليفة بلقاسم حفتر, Ḵalīfa Bilqāsim Ḥaftar; born 7 November 1943) is a Libyan-American politician, military officer, and the commander of the Tobruk-based Libyan National Army (LN ...
.
Preparation
The Libyan National Conference was coordinated by
Ghassan Salamé
Ghassan Salamé ( ar, غسان سلامة; born 1951) is a Paris-based Lebanese academic. He served as the Lebanese Minister of Culture from 2000 to 2003. He was the Dean of the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) and professor of Inte ...
, head of the
United Nations Support Mission in Libya
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) is a United Nations (UN) advanced mission in Libya, created in the aftermath of the Libyan Civil War. UNSMIL is a political mission, not a military mission. The main elements of its mandate def ...
(UNSMIL) over 18 months during 2018–2019.
From April
to July 2018, UNSMIL and the
Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue organised 75 meetings in Libya and internationally with 7000 Libyans, three-quarters men and a quarter women. Half a million comments were collected on online
social media
Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
from 130,000
online followers together with 2000 formal online "submissions".
The November 2018 summary of the consultation stated that the main desires of Libyans were:
* "a united Libya capable of defending its borders and sovereignty";
* "a united military institution, free from political interference and committed to the national interest";
* "more fair distribution of resources through a decentralized state";
* "a government based on competence, not identity";
* "professional police services to ensure local security".
Salamé summarised the preparation of the conference as including "broad consultation with all the Libyan factions and groups, and after the painstaking and delicate handling of local, regional and international constraints and imperatives."
The planned number of participants is about 120–150 Libyans from diverse sociopolitical Libyan groups, with no foreign groups represented.
Salamé stated in April 2019 that holding the conference was justified given that "the necessary conditions had been met to enable an effective solution to the crisis in Libya through a political settlement, the establishment of a national charter and commitments that could be given to place the country on the path of recovery, towards peace, restoration of unity and sovereignty and a decent life for the Libyan people."
The holding of the National Conference was supported by the
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...
.
Aims
The conference was planned to only make recommendations, with no executive powers, with the aim of not competing with existing Libyan political bodies such as the
Presidential Council, the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
, the
High Council of State.
Specific proposals that should result from the conference include methods and dates for the
2019 presidential and parliamentary elections. These would be recommended to the House of Representatives and High Council of State, who would be responsible for implementing these.
Postponement and relaunch with new name
The National Conference was postponed in early April 2019 as a result of the military actions constituting the
2019–20 Western Libya campaign
The Western Libya campaign was a military campaign initiated on 4 April 2019 by the Operation Flood of Dignity ( ar, عملية طوفان الكرامة) of the Libyan National Army, which represents the Libyan House of Representatives, to cap ...
.
In late 2020, a series of meetings similar to the originally planned National Conference was initiated, with the new name being the
Libyan Political Dialogue Forum
The Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) is an intra-Libyan political body involved in series of meetings started in late 2020, initially aiming to lead to Libyan elections, Libyan peace process and "democractic legitimacy of Libyan instituti ...
.
References
External links
Official web site(Arabic only)
{{Libyan institutional transition
2019 conferences
Second Libyan Civil War
Libya and the United Nations
Libyan peace process