Obstructing Libya’s Elections..

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The Paris conference confirmed the unity of the international community towards Libya, and drew up scenarios for the elections and sanctions against their perpetrators in decisive messages to the Brotherhood and their supporters.

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Messages stemming from Friday’s Paris Conference on Libya were explicit in revealing the seriousness of the international community to set the road points for “stray” Libya for 10 years, and pushing for a resolution on the move to withdraw foreign fighters and mercenaries from the oil-rich African country.

“But the threat of sanctions against the obstructionists was a warning to the Libyan Brotherhood and its supporters that any attempt would be met with a strong response, putting the country and the international community to a crucial test”; either smooth elections, or the Brotherhood’s continued obstruction of constitutional eligibility, which may require international intervention to implement the commitments made by the participants in the Paris Conference.

On the importance of the Paris conference and the scenarios ahead of next December’s elections, whether the Brotherhood will continue its anti-election approach, and the role of the international community at the time.

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Basic message

Libyan analyst Hussein Elmessallati argues that the exit from Paris strengthened all past international agreements and stabilized the outcome of the first and second Berlin Conferences and Security Council resolutions on Libya, recalling that the congress’s main message was to hold elections in time and cracking down on any attempts to block them, while suggesting that those trying to block them should be held accountable and put on the list of international sanctions.

Elmessallati said that the Paris outputs are supported for the upcoming election, warning that any delay would have dire consequences for the Libyan people and would cast a shadow on neighboring countries; because manipulation means entering a dark tunnel of chaos.

“The outputs of the Paris conference exposed the intentions of the obstructionists by their reservations on a number of items, namely Turkey, which said it still has some reservations on the withdrawal of forces from Libya, while Russia expressed its readiness to support a reciprocal withdrawal of forces from there,” the expert said.

For him, Turkey sees its presence in Libya as a strategic gain that cannot be easily compromised or without economic gains and mega-projects, expressing its regret that the international community is not in agreement on Libya to a great extent.

Role of the Brotherhood

Regarding the possibility of the Brotherhood’s commitment not to obstruct the elections, the Libyan analyst said, “The organization is accustomed to its insistence on disrupting any political process that reveals its low popular size”. He pointed out that the organization will continue its obstruction process under various pretexts, and will not be able to easily condemn unless the international community is serious in punishing it.

As for the winner of the Paris conference outputs, Elmessallati said the Libyan people are the first to win; He wants to see a new authority that he chooses, represents, and expresses, and ends the political and institutional divide. Meanwhile, the political Islamist movement, the Muslim Brotherhood organization and the chaos that is taking place in their orbit, and the countries that support them, are the only losers.

He noted that removing mercenaries before the elections was very difficult, but the steps being taken by the Joint Military Commission were positive and could be built upon.

Election procedure

Despite attempts by several parties to obstruct and postpone the elections, the Paris conference supported the scheduled timetable for the elections and stressed the need to hold the elections on time and remove all mercenaries from Libyan territory, said Libyan political analyst al-Arabi Al Warfali.

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The Libyan analyst explained that other parties tried to obstruct this by demanding that election laws be amended to allow them to run, but the conference succeeded in mobilizing international public opinion on supporting elections to produce a new authority in Libya.

Al Warfali, who lives in Paris, said the Brotherhood is known for standing against the will of the people because it is keen on realizing its own interests. Therefore, it will not stop obstructing the elections and disrupting them, but the international community was decisive and serious this time by threatening to punish all those who are impeded.

He stressed the importance of the international community’s pressure to help remove those obstructing the elections, pointing to the importance of imposing international sanctions, especially those related to freezing assets, to prevent parties from using corrupt money to thwart the elections.

Remove the mercenary

According to the expert, the reference to Security Council resolutions threatening obstructionists was not a coincidence, which means that there is serious concern about punishing the obstructionists if they continue with their obstructive approach to the presidential and legislative elections on time and also to accept their results.

He noted that the conference approved the plan of the 5+5 Military Committee, which set specific timetables for the removal of mercenaries and foreign forces on Libyan territory without any exception, in a “significant” development in the American and German position.

The plan to remove foreign forces, which was confirmed by the conference, will be on the agenda of the UN Security Council’s upcoming session on Libya, the Libyan analyst said.