October 09, 2015•Update: October 10, 2015
SKHIRAT, Morocco
Special envoy Bernardino Leon on Friday announced a UN proposal for a Libyan unity government.
The measure announced in the Moroccan city of Skhirat comes after four years of political turmoil in the North African nation.
“This is a proposal from the United Nations,” said Leon. “This is not a proposal that the members of the dialogue have made.”
Leon added that the Tripoli-based General National Congress and the Tobruk-based government recommended names for a handful of government posts, including prime minister and deputy prime minister.
According to the UN draft, Fayez Sarraj, a Tripoli MP, was proposed for the prime minister’s position.
According to the UN proposal, a one-year-long government of national accord will be established, where a council of ministers headed by a prime minister and two deputies will have executive authority based in Tripoli.
The U.S. welcomed the proposal, calling it “an important step in restoring peace and stability” and urged the country’s House of Representatives and the General National Congress "to immediately and conclusively" endorse the plan, said a State Department spokesman.
Libya descended into chaos and bloodshed following the ouster and death of strongman Muammar Gaddafi in late 2011.
In the four years since, the country’s stark political divisions have produced two rival seats of government, one in Tripoli and one in Tobruk, each of which boasts its own political institutions and military capacities.
