Moving Libya Forward

OPINION:

Libya has again reached a crossroads. Against great odds, the Libyan people have persevered to move our country forward on a path of stability, unity and prosperity. It is in this spirit, and out of respect for the desires of more than 2 million Libyans who believe our country’s road to democracy starts at the ballot box, that I have accepted the support of my fellow countrymen to hold the position of Prime Minister.

I am mindful of the aspirations of the Libyan people. I will spend my time in this role working to ensure a better life for Libyans who continue to struggle to secure their most basic rights. It is time to take the steps necessary to realize our dreams of building a state that respects all of its citizens and offers them decent opportunities.

As declared in the roadmap set out by our parliament, I will guarantee that elections are completed by the 14-month deadline. We must work toward a credible election that is secure and inclusive. This will be my single most important objective as Prime Minister. Our recent electoral process had some security difficulties, including protecting citizens’ data. We must seek to address those and any other election-related concerns to give Libyans and the world confidence in the credibility of the results of upcoming elections.

I will not make vague and unrealistic promises. But I will commit myself to ensure that the Libyan state does not incur further human and material losses. In addition to implementing the election timetable set forth by parliament, we must focus on serious issues in the health, security, energy and economic sectors.

We must redouble our steps to combat COVID-19 and its impact, starting with comprehensive vaccination efforts. Too many Libyans have lost their loved ones due to the pandemic, and too many have suffered the economic costs of the prolonged global pandemic. 

Reconciliation among the citizens of our nation is crucial to ensure a successful electoral process and a future government that is accountable to all of the people it serves. We must work on initiatives at the local level and with a diverse range of groups in society. Our government must focus on bringing Libyans together around what unites them instead of focusing on our past.

It is time to develop a strategy to put Libya on the path to economic recovery. We must commit our support for the National Oil Corporation (NOC), which has demonstrated its competence and ability to work under difficult circumstances. Corruption in previous governments in Libya has prevented the NOC from playing this role in the international community - I will seek to correct that. Demand in the international market is driving up oil prices. The NOC can increase Libyan oil and gas production, contributing to meeting the needs of the international market while increasing our national income and diversifying the state’s revenues in the longer term.

We must learn from the lessons of our own history - a decades-long closed economy; years of division; control by the few over public funds; and the mangled financial, monetary and commercial policies that directly and negatively impacted the lives of our citizens. We must now implement sound financial policies to repair that history, including supporting rational policies that increase purchasing power and provide liquidity in banks; liberalizing the economy to help our nation’s promising youth achieve their ambitions; and ensuring that our state institutions are providing services to our citizens, not just our elite.

I want to see a stable and secure Libya. We must have government accountability and prosperity for the Libyan people. I had hoped to be in a leadership role in our country through the presidential elections. But we must be adaptable and create new paths when the original paths falter. When I officially present the new government as Prime Minister in two weeks, I will be able to do what is most important – to support the Libyan people in their quest for a more promising future and ensure that we are building a stable and secure Libyan state. 

• Fathi Bashagha has been named Prime Minister by the Libyan House of Representatives.