Libya’s political crisis deepened on Tuesday as some presidential candidates met in Benghazi to discuss how to tackle a collapsing electoral process that was meant to help end a decade of violence and chaos.
The meeting is the most prominent of several rounds of backroom talks over recent days between candidates, factions and foreign powers about delaying the vote and whether an interim government can meanwhile continue in power.
Rival armed groups mobilized in Tripoli early on Tuesday, closing roads in the south of the capital, with schools phoning parents to pick up their children.
The presidential election was meant to take place this Friday, but without any clear agreement on rules, and with bitter disputes over the eligibility of major candidates, the process has stalled and cannot go ahead.
Hadi Al-Sagheer, head of parliament’s election committee, said by phone the vote would have to be delayed because there was no longer time to carry out preparatory steps, though no postponement has yet been formally announced.
Candidates, factions and foreign powers involved in Libya are discussing the length of a delay, whether basic changes need to be made to rules and the vote’s legal basis, and whether to replace the interim government or form a breakaway administration.
The group meeting in Benghazi, including eastern commander Khalifa Haftar and the former Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha from Misrata, are aligned against the interim prime minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, who is a rival candidate.
The interim government and the election process were created last year under a UN-backed roadmap to end the turmoil.