Libyan PM urges rivals to adhere to election plan

By Walid Abdullah

TRIPOLI

Libya’s UN-backed Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj has called on the country’s warring rivals to adhere to holding election as scheduled to resolve the conflict in the North African country.

This came during a meeting al-Sarraj held on Monday with visiting French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in the capital Tripoli.

According to a statement issued by his office, al-Sarraj underlined the need to “prepare the constitutional framework for holding the polls and to stop maneuvering” by other parties – in reference to East Libya-based parliament.

He went on to call for “focusing on rendering the political process successful and ending obstruction efforts by some parties”, without elaborating.

The Libyan premier hailed relations between his country and France, and ongoing French efforts to restore stability to Libya.

For his part, the top French diplomat said his visit to Libya aimed to underline the importance of implementing the understandings reached between Libyan rivals during their talks in Paris.

During the talks, Libyan rivals agreed to finalize and adopt a constitution by Sept. 16 and hold presidential and parliamentary election on Dec. 18.

Libya has been dogged by turmoil since 2011, when a bloody NATO-backed uprising led to the death of strongman Muammar Gaddafi after more than four decades in power.

Since then, Libya’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of power -- one in Tobruk and another in Tripoli -- and a host of heavily-armed militia groups.