Is Algeria's dialogue initiative for Libya still viable?
Algeria had announced a dialogue initiative bringing together Libya’s rival factions to be held in October, but the month passed without a meeting being held.
TUNIS, Tunisia — The focus of some Libyans and others interested in Libyan affairs turned toward Algeria in September, when the government announced its intention to host a dialogue in late October among Libya’s warring parties. October passed, however, without the dialogue taking place. Libya’s fate became even murkier on Nov. 6 after the Supreme Constitutional Court invalidated the Council of Representatives, the Tobruk-based elected legislature recognized by the international community.
There are multiple reasons for the failed effort at a dialogue, but the result is the same: the conflicting parties in Libya must meet around the same table to discuss sparing the country more bloody conflict. In this respect, Bernardino Leon, special representative of the UN secretary-general, has sought to hold new meetings with influential figures following the court’s decision on the legislature.
A number of Libyan members of parliament (MPs) interviewed by Al-Monitor in Tunisia believe that the timing was behind the failure of the Algerian initiative, with its being announced for an unspecified date in the last days of October, which coincided with Tunisian parliamentary elections, held Oct. 26.
Fathi Mohammed al-Qabasi, a Libyan MP, said Algeria’s initiative was promising, especially given that a similar initiative for dialogue among Malian parties in Algeria had achieved some success. He also said, however, that the effort to engage Libyan Islamists in the dialogue brokered by Ennahda leader Rachid Ghannouchi in tandem with the Tunisian elections made the mission difficult.
