Post-ceasefire, Libyan demonstrations and oil blockade issues on front pages of newspapers

30 Août 2020

Tripoli, Libya, August 30 (Infosplusgabon) - Events in Libya one week after the proclamation of ceasefire have assumed twists and turns, giving rise to diverse commentaries by the newspapers.

The announcement of the ceasefire by the presidential council Chairman, Fayez al-Sarraj, and the speaker of Parliament, Aguila Salah, was followed by demonstrations in Tripoli and several other cities.

The protesters denounced corruption which is upsetting the political agenda in the country, according to newspapers published this week, which also raised the issue of the oil blockade and who was benefiting from it.

The al-Wassat newspaper wrote an article entitled "What after the al-Sarraj and Aguila Salah initiatives?", saying that the announcement of an immediate ceasefire by al-Sarraj and Salah had given new hopes for a way out of the Libyan crisis.

It described as ‘courageous’ the approach of the two presidents and the acting representative of the UN Secretary-General, Stephanie Williams, to the crisis which had persisted and exacerbated since the political divisions in 2014.

The newspaper said despite the ambiguity of the negotiation process that led to the two declarations, the solution in both initiatives indicated, according to supporters, a "significant consensus" and a real possibility of breaking down the barriers and trenches behind which each side had taken root, especially with the acceptance by all regional and international parties of the two initiatives.

The al-Wassat newspaper thinks some ambiguity surrounds the al-Sarraj and Aguila initiatives, especially with regard to the details of the decision, as well as the reactions of countries supporting the Government of National Accord.

This view is held by the former president of the National Congress and president of the "Yabiladi" movement, Nuri Abousahmein, as well as in the reactions of countries supporting the Government of National Accord.

Other sources say the announcement came in the wake of the UN-mediated talks in Geneva this week and a telephone call between the Russian and Turkish foreign ministers.

Observers do not rule out, according to al-Wassat, that Washington may be the main driving force behind recent developments, especially after recent moves by U.S. Ambassador Richard Norland, who met with Salah and Egyptian officials in Cairo on August 12 to discuss his proposal for a "demilitarized solution around Sirte and al-Joufra".

The newspaper said that last week Norland spoke with the first vice-president of the Presidential Council, Ahmed Maitig, about stopping the military escalation in the city of Sirte.

It also said that the U.S. ambassador also left Cairo for the Turkish capital, Ankara, where he said he discussed with Turkish officials the "withdrawal of foreign forces and mercenaries from Libya and disarmament in Libya”.

It seems that the "demilitarized solution" is being implemented, the newspaper added, quoting the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Richard Norland.

It said this was clear from the words of the UN envoy, Williams, who welcomed the two initiatives, expressing hope that the ceasefire would speed up the implementation of the agreements of the 5 + 5 joint military commission, and "the beginning of the departure of all foreign forces and mercenaries present on Libyan soil".

What is also new in the movement observed in the Libyan crisis is al-Sarraj's call for "presidential and parliamentary elections during the month of March, according to an appropriate constitutional basis agreed upon by the Libyans", the al-Wassat newspaper recalled.

It noted that the constitutional basis had been laid for what could be agreed upon in the political process between the two parties.

The Afrigatenews focused on the issues of the blockade of oil sites since last January, reporting that the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Libyan National Oil Company, Mustapha Sanalla, participated in a roundtable discussion on the evolution of the situation in Libya following the escalation of tensions, conflicts and the collapse of the oil market, during the Middle East and Mediterranean summit.

The newspaper reported that Sanalla said that "the ongoing conflict over oil installations is an international political conflict rather than an internal Libyan dispute over the distribution of revenues, as several countries benefit financially from the absence of Libyan oil on the world market”.

“The vast majority of Libyans themselves want to see the resumption of oil production, accompanied by real transparency on the part of all parties regarding revenues and expenditures.

“The Libyan citizen is the most affected by the closures, and the greatest proof of this is the deterioration of the service side, the continuous lack of liquidity and other problems that the citizens suffer daily from us," the newspaper reported, echoing Sanalla's comments.

Returning to the demonstrations in Libya, al-Wassat newspaper said that two important events during the Libyan crisis suddenly brought the situation out of the impasse since the war in the capital stopped.

It said what happened afterwards was the publication of two statements on Friday, one from the chairman of the presidential council, al-Sarraj, and the second from the speaker of Parliament, Salah, having agreed to a ceasefire in all regions of Libya and working to reopen the oil fields and ports, and then to resume the political and military negotiations called 5 + 5.

Al-Wassat said that while internal and external circles were discussing the content of the statements and monitoring reactions to them, the second event was the angry demonstrations in the capital, Tripoli, and other cities, including Misrata, over widespread corruption, poor living conditions and services, and the government's inability to deal with the resulting crises due to the poor performance and management of officials.

The most important demands of the protest movement, which took the name "Youth Movement", were the dismissal and accountability of those responsible for the corruption and suffering of the population, the newspaper said, adding that the decision came as a big shock in political circles.

"This forced the chairman of the Presidential Council, Fayez al-Sarraj, to break his long silence, to address a word to the people, in which he announced a number of promises to address the crises in the country, in addition to the electricity crisis, the scarcity of liquidity and the accumulation of corruption in the administration.”

The newspaper said that al-Sarraj announced in his speech his intention to carry out an urgent ministerial reshuffle, especially with regard to the service ministries, promising that the choice of ministers would be based on competence, capacity and cleanliness of hands.

He indicated at the same time that he could resort to exceptional measures to implement the government's amendments to circumvent the problem of the quota system.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/SDX/GABON2020

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