Libya at last gets a unity government, but path to elections remains difficult

First problem for PM Abdul Hamid Dbeibah is what to do about a front line that snakes down the middle of country

Libya's Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, former prime minister Fayez Al Sarraj and Mohammed Al Menfi, head of the Presidency Council, pose for a photo before the handover ceremony in Tripoli, Libya. ReutersShow less

After six years of bitter civil war, Libya this week got a government of unity at last, but uniting this shattered country will be more difficult.

The Government of National Unity, a transitional administration, was sworn in on Monday and is now in charge of keeping the peace long enough for elections for a permanent government to be held in December.

It will not be easy.

UN special envoy to Libya Jan Kubis welcomed the birth of the new government.

“Today’s swearing-in session illustrates the eagerness and the determination of Libyans to overcome their differences,” he said.

The UN played an important role in creating the new government, which has become Libya’s fifth transitional government in the decade since the revolution that overthrew Muammar Qaddafi.

A UN-chaired forum negotiated the formation of the government over four, often torturous, months, moulding it to replace Libya’s two rival governments – one in the west and another in the east. Those governments had been at war since 2014, operating parallel administrations and armies.

Now, both are set to dissolve.

The new prime minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, promised on Monday that the government will be one “of all Libyans”, ensuring his 33-member Cabinet is drawn from groups across the country.

For the moment, at least, he has parliament’s backing, with members voting 132-2 to endorse his Cabinet, although the 54 politicians who did not show up to vote hints that not everybody is satisfied.

The first problem for Mr Dbeibah, 61, a wealthy businessman from the city of Misurata, is what to do about a front line that snakes down the middle of country near the coastal city of Sirte.

The front line congealed last summer after rival forces fought themselves to a standstill. Earthworks and fortifications dot the line and the main coastal highway connecting east and west Libya remains blocked.

For the moment, the rival forces remain in place, but a UN-brokered ceasefire agreed to in October has stayed intact. The UN has deployed a small observation team to assess whether a larger monitoring effort can be deployed. In Geneva, a joint military commission consisting of five officials from each former government has so far been successful in providing a talking-shop to quickly solve ceasefire breaches.

Mr Dbeibah will also be cheered by the recent reunification of the central bank, which had been divided between east and west. Another boost is that Libya’s oil production is strong, with its fields for the moment free of the blockades and strikes that have often restricted output.

But running a government containing all factions will likely make decision-making cumbersome, particularly because it must decide what kind of constitution will govern the permanent government to be elected in December. There is strong support for a referendum on this constitution to be held in the summer.

Tripoli, meanwhile, continues to be dominated by more than a dozen powerful militias who periodically skirmish with each other. The militia chiefs will need to be convinced to hand over power to regular army and police agencies to give the capital security.

The capital’s administration must also find a way of ending frequent shortages of electricity and water. More than 1.3 million of Libya’s 6.5 million people depend on the UN for humanitarian aid.

Another priority is ensuring the departure of an estimated 20,000 mercenaries. On Friday, the UN Security Council called for mercenary withdrawal “without delay” and Mr Dbeibah has labelled the mercenary presence a “stab in our back."

While the ceasefire is holding, terrorism remains a threat. At the weekend, the Libyan National Army, commanded by Field Marshall Khalifa Haftar, raided an ISIS hideout in the south of the country, announcing the capture of its “most prominent leader”, Mohamed Milhoud Mohamed.

One key test of Mr Dbeibah’s government will be whether its unity remains intact when he makes the inevitable tough decisions about demobilising armies and where the budget is spent.

Another potential problem is a UN report alleging corruption in the formation of the new government which was given to the UN Security Council, but has yet to be made public.