Libyan parliament members discuss forming unified gov't

20/1/2025 6:02

Representatives of Libya's eastern-based House of Representatives (parliament) on Sunday discussed forming a unified government in the country with the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).

In a meeting with Deputy Special Representative of UN Secretary-General for Political Affairs and Officer-in-Charge of UNSMIL Stephanie Koury, they "discussed the latest developments of Libya's political and economic situation and ways to end the Libyan crisis by holding presidential and parliamentary elections and forming a unified government," the parliament said in a statement on its official website.

The meeting also discussed the country's newly approved national reconciliation law, said the statement.

In December 2024, Speaker of the House of Representatives Aguila Saleh announced that he and Koury had agreed on the need to unify the executive authority and form a unified government to "move forward towards holding presidential and parliamentary elections as soon as possible."

Libya failed to hold general elections in December 2021 as previously scheduled, due to disagreements among the Libyan parties over election laws.

Since the fall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011, Libya has been struggling with fragmentation. The country is now divided between two main rival administrations: the eastern-based government, backed by the parliament, and the western-based government in Tripoli, supported by the Presidential Council.