Mustafa Al-Majdoub announced on Friday that he had arrived in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and begun carrying out his duties as head of what he called a “unified government”. He is putting forward a third authority in opposition to the Government of National Unity headed by Abdul Hamid Dbeibah in Tripoli and the government appointed by the House of Representatives, headed by Osama Hamad in Benghazi, amid the continuing political and institutional division in the country.
In an address to Libyans, Al-Majdoub said he had decided to suspend the work of the House of Representatives and the High Council of State. He called on Dbeibah and Hamad to hand over power peacefully “to spare Libyan bloodshed”, presenting his government as a path towards ending the transitional period and unifying the country’s divided institutions.
Al-Majdoub proposed a timetable that includes holding a constitutional referendum within 90 days, with presidential and parliamentary elections to be organised within eight months of the referendum’s conclusion. Alongside his political programme, he announced a state of general military mobilisation, saying its purpose was to protect Libya’s borders, the homeland and its citizens.
Al-Majdoub emerges with a unified-government initiative
Al-Majdoub’s name emerged on the political scene last July, when a group of politicians and activists chose him, at a meeting held in Geneva, as head of what they described as a “unified government”. The initiative came outside the existing political tracks and, from the outset, prompted debate over its legitimacy and its ability to become an effective authority inside Libya. Al-Majdoub’s arrival in Tripoli and his announcement that he was leading a third government prompted mixed reactions.
The Presidential Council, along with the governments of Dbeibah and Hamad, remained silent regarding his announcement and programme, while social forces and groups showed openness to the proposal and treated it seriously, considering that it could provide a basis for moving beyond the political and institutional division.
Social support for Al-Majdoub’s move
The “revolutionaries, notables, elders and youth of Misrata” announced in a statement their support for Al-Majdoub heading a unified government and taking the reins of power as soon as possible. The statement called for making use of what it described as the available opportunity to end the division, unify state institutions, uphold the law and protect public funds.
The “People of Tripoli” also announced their full support for the path led by Al-Majdoub and for entering a new phase aimed, according to their position, at ending division, corruption and conflict, and building a state whose future would be decided by Libyans themselves.
For his part, High Council of State member Saad bin Sharada said: “You may agree or disagree with Al-Majdoub, and you may see in his project something worthy of discussion or something requiring review, but the truth is that courage has today become a rare currency in the Libyan scene.” Bin Sharada said that a person stepping into the spotlight and clearly declaring a desire to assume responsibility for leading the state, despite limited resources and the difficulty of the situation, represented “a position requiring a measure of courage”.
He added that Libya “today needs someone with the boldness to put himself and his project before Libyans, and then leave the final say to them”. Observers place Al-Majdoub’s move in the context of frustration resulting from the continuing political division and the stalled electoral process.
They believe that setting specific dates for a constitutional referendum followed by presidential and parliamentary elections could resonate with sections of Libyan society that consider the continuation of the transitional period no longer acceptable. The emergence of this path coincides with the United Nations mission in Libya pushing for a political process aimed at unifying authority and creating the conditions necessary for holding general elections to end the crisis facing the country.
