Though the African Union (AU) announced at its recent summit in Kigali, Rwanda, that it intended to initiate a national dialogue on reconciliation among Libyan stakeholders in order to address the security crisis that erupted in 2011, it is still unclear how this dialogue will be put in place.
Expressing concern about the prevailing situation in the North Africa country, the South Africa-based Institute for Security Studies (ISS) said Monday that the proposed AU-led national reconciliation dialogue will hopefully help Libyans to further unite in the fight against spoilers of peace.
At the 27th AU summit in Kigali, AU Peace and Security Commissioner Smaïl Chergui said that the AU Commission Chairperson had decided to initiate a meeting on national dialogue and reconciliation in Libya.
“Hopefully, at this stage, this is what the Libyan people need to bring them together, for reconciliation [to happen] and to see how we can really contribute to the effort of putting an end to the crisis,” he said.
The reconciliation plan follows the signing of the Libyan Political Agreement on 17 December 2015 by the majority of the Libyan delegates and representatives who took part in a political dialogue in Morocco, which was facilitated by the United Nations.
The agreement paved the way for the formation of the Government of National Accord (GNA), consisting of a Presidency Council, Cabinet, House of Representatives and State Council.
Commenting on the AU’s plan to convene a dialogue for national reconciliation in Libya, Ndubuisi Christian Ani, Researcher in the ISS Conflict Prevention and Risk Analysis Division in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, wrote that it highlighted AU’s willingness to ensure a return to stability in the country.
“The intended dialogue aims to bring together representatives of all Libyan stakeholders to address the issue of national reconciliation so as to tackle the divisions in the country,” Ani noted.
Optimistic that the reconciliation dialogue would help Libyans to further unite in the fight against spoilers of peace, Ani suggested that the AU could also use the opportunity to advance the need for security sector reform in the region so as to unite all militias under the government umbrella.
However, the AU has to ensure that the plan for national dialogue is followed up by concrete action, as well as the mobilization of sufficient resources to implement the initiative, the ISS emphasized in its Monday focus piece.
Source: Pana
