United World International hosted in a webinar Mr. Khaled Al-Mishri, Chairman of the Libyan High Council of State on December 2nd.
Al-Mishri announced his institution would “not recognize” the December 24 elections, if these are made “on the ground of the given electoral” laws, criticized the UN mission in Libya as “not constructive since its beginning”, stated that France is “trying to compensate its loss of control Africa with a strong presence in Libya” and described the basis, on which the Libyan Government, Turkey and Russia could work together.
Election process “will be a total failure”
According to Al-Mishri, the scheduled presidential elections in Libya are “flawed” for various reasons: They are organized by “weak and illegitimate entities”, on the ground of a draft constitution and on bases of “not applicable, flawed election laws”. The Chairman of the High Council of State said that the Electoral Commission has “no control over ballots and voters lists”, the security situation is not ready to hold elections, “as recent events in Sabha demonstrated”, and the whole “electoral process violates of the draft constitution, UN Security Council Resolutions, the outcomes of the Berlin Conference and the Geneva Road Map.”
Predicting that the election process will be “a total failure” and the “ground is not ready yet”, the Chairman of the High Council of State stated “we will not recognize results if the elections are hold based on current laws.”
Asked about boycotting the elections, Al-Mishri stated “most of the presidential candidates themselves don’t believe the elections will be held, presenting their candidacy for other reasons”. Despite people colleting their voter’s cards from election institutions, the amount of “real voters is very small”, with most people intending to “sell their votes or avoiding their misuse”, said Al-Mishri.
The webinar with the full presentation of Al-Mishri, including remarks on current candidates and his own candidacy, can be watched on the Youtube channel of United World International.
According to the Chairman, the election is scheduled due to the pressure by the UN office in Libya, France and the United States.
UN mission in Libya “has never been constructive”
Stating that the UN mission in Libya, has “not ever been constructive since it’s beginning”, Al-Mishri criticized them for “not conducting their role in accordance with UNSC resolutions”. He claimed that mission chief Kubis “prefers to work in Geneva instead of Tripoli”.
France trying to compensate losses in Africa
France, another actor pressuring on holding elections, “is losing control in Mali and the Central African Republic, thus tries to compensate with a strong presence in Libya”, said Al-Mishri. He noted that France “early on bet on Haftar, also due to a special relation between him and Foreign Minister Le Drian.”
US want a President that forces Russia out of Libya
The United States is “not siding with France, but supports scheduled elections to get a President that forces Russia out of the country”, said Al-Mishri. Asked about the ground for a possible Libyan-Turkish-Russian cooperation in the country, Al-Mishri stated the following:
“Russia sided in the beginning with the wrong side. They supported Khalifa Hafter. Both, Russia and France were supporting Hafter at the same time, a situation that surprised us very much. When Russia supported Haftar, Turkey supported us and we stopped the aggression against Tripoli. But Hafter is not the best option for Russia, which is why Moscow is approaching now elements of the former regime, such as Saif al-Islam”, said Al-Mishri.
We need a formula that protects the economic interests of all sides: Turkey, Russia, Italy and the US
He continued: “Until now, we have not seen any cooperation between Turkey and Russia to mitigate the crisis in Libya. Such a possible cooperation of the three sides, the Libyan government, Turkey and Russia would face solid rejection by NATO, the US, Italy and other powers that don’t like to see Russia getting a stronghold in Libya. NATO will not accept a Russian airbase on Libyan soil, which is just 20 minutes away from the European skies.
Now, Libya is a country rich of resources. There are rumors of newly discovered gas reserves in the Gulf of Sirte, and we also have uranium and gold reserves in the south of the country.
Hence, we need an economic formula that protects the interests of all sides: Italy, Turkey, the US and Russia. It is impossible to think that one party alone will have exclusive dominance over these areas. Such a situation would not help and lead certainly to the escalation of tensions.
And economic stability in Libya will also serve the European Union with a stable oil production, elimination of extremists and keeping African immigrants in Libya. Therefore, all forces should limit themselves and come to an agreement”, Al-Mishri concluded.