Senegal president confident 2023 will mark end of Libyan crisis through peace, elections

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Senegalese president and current chairman of the African Union (AU), Macky Sall, has expressed confidence that Libya will achieve peace during 2023, by holding elections.

In a recorded speech at the opening of the preparatory forum of the National Reconciliation Conference, which started on Sunday in Tripoli, Mr. Sall expressed the hope that these elections will be "free and fair and will meet the desire of the Libyan people, provided that all political parties agree to accept the results".

For his part, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), Moussa Faki, commended the efforts made to convene the forum, which he described as "historic".

It brings together the parties to the political process in Libya, and the efforts of the AU to achieve stability in the North African country.

Mr. Faki stressed that the forum represents a step in the right direction, to achieve the inclusive Libyan conference, which aims to lay the foundations for a comprehensive national reconciliation, paving the way for elections to get out of the crisis.

He added that once again, the AU continues to support all efforts to achieve stability through the national reconciliation project led by the Libyan Presidential Council.

The head of the African Union mission, Congolese Foreign Minister Jean-Claude Gakosso, affirmed that Libyans have a strong will to achieve a comprehensive national reconciliation, through meetings bringing together all components of the society, who have expressed their desire for stability for their country, to overcome their hardships.

The Congolese minister said that reconciliation is what "dissolves hatred and lifts barriers", helps to achieve stability, election of a president and a government, which will preserve the sovereignty of the country.

He stressed that the stability of Libya is the stability of Africa, and "as Africans, we all hope that Libya will overcome its ordeal and rise to assume its central and regional role in the region and on the African continent".

For his part, the Secretary General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, reaffirmed the organisation's continued support for all efforts to stabilise the country, through the national reconciliation project, which is led by the Presidential Council, to end years of division.

In a recorded speech he explained that reconciliation is what ensures that all parties sit at the same table for the good of the country, to raise all issues and make recommendations for the future of the country.

He gave the assurance that the Preparatory Forum gives hope that Libyans can take over the initiative to stabilise their country and hold elections.

The deputy chairman of the Libyan Presidential Council, Abdallah al-Lafi, in his speech stressed that the ownership of the national project gives all Libyans the initiative and responsibility, adding that it is the bridge that allows all to achieve the aspirations of the Libyan people and the future of its children.

Mr. al-Lafi referred to the crises that have hit the country over the past 10 years, "which forces us to stop and reflect, to calculate the cost of the differences in which our people have lost their lives by the thousands, lost property by the billions, in which we have tasted the bitterness of division, in which nations have overtaken us, and we have missed many opportunities in development and progress, while fear, sadness and disappointment have invaded our hearts".

He said that the people could not bear these any more, and "it became imperative for us to adhere to wisdom, and dare to confront our reality with confidence to change it".

The Libyan leader stressed: "Today we are facing a great challenge, which is to find mechanisms to end the conflict, remedy the mistakes of the past and face the issues of disagreement, no matter how big and difficult they are, in order to develop solutions and settlements for them, and to agree on what brings us together and builds peace in our country, lays the foundation for the establishment of our strong state".

He added that there is no difference between people of the same country, but everyone is equal in rights and duties, and no one is above the law.

The state of institutions is built on respect for the law, and there is no dispute about the unity of the country and the preservation of its lands.

The deputy chairman of the Presidential Council stressed that when the Presidential Council took up the issue of national reconciliation, it was aware that its success will depend on the participation of the population and their ownership of it.

"This is what made us rely on the initiatives of Libyans, the use of national experts, and the strategy of this project, to be a purely Libyan action."

He mentioned the need to make an effort to communicate with the representatives of all parties at the political, social, security, cultural and elite levels, so that they manage this project, which depends on an organised and responsible dialogue, to formulate the national project through it, as the basis for the solution to all the crises the country is going through.

Mr. al-Lafi said: "Here you are today, sharing this responsibility with us, so that the Libyan people can give you their full trust, to manage them or to achieve their aspirations."

-0- PANA BY/JSG/BBA/MA 9Jan2022