TRIPOLI: Libya’s internationally recognised Prime Minister Fayez Al Sarraj said on Wednesday he wants to quit by the end of October, which could feed political tensions in Tripoli amid new efforts to find a political solution to the country’s conflict.
“I declare my sincere desire to hand over my duties to the next executive authority no later than the end of October,” he said in a televised speech.
Citing the work of UN-sponsored talks in Geneva, he pointed to progress in agreeing a way to unify Libya’s fragmented state and prepare for elections.
Al Sarraj is head of the Government of National Accord (GNA), based in Tripoli, while eastern Libya and much of the south is controlled by Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA).
The civil war has drawn in regional and international powers with the UAE, Egypt and Russia backing the LNA and Turkey supporting the GNA.
Unstable coalitions
However, both sides are made up of unstable coalitions that have come under stress since Turkey helped the GNA turn back a 14-month LNA assault on Tripoli in June.
An LNA blockade of energy exports since January has deprived the Libyan state of most of its usual revenue, worsening living standards and contributing to protests in cities controlled by both sides.
Al Sarraj’s departure could lead to new infighting among other senior GNA figures, and between the armed groups from Tripoli and Bashagha’s coastal city of Misrata that wield control on the ground.
He has headed the GNA since it was formed in 2015 as a result of a UN-backed political agreement aimed at uniting and stabilising Libya after the chaos that followed the 2011 uprising that ousted Muammar Gaddafi.