General Khalifa Haftar says he has received the “popular mandate” to rule Libya

Defence Redefined

28/04/2020

The powerful man of eastern Libya, General Khalifa Haftar, said on Monday April 27 that he has received the “popular mandate” to rule Libya, promising to continue his attack against Tripoli.

Supported by a Libyan-based parliament, Haftar opposes the UN-recognized Tripoli National Unity Government (GNA). In a speech on Libyan television network Libya al-Hadath, the general said that today he “accepted the will of the people and their mandate”, without specifying from which institution he received the “popular mandate”. 

He did not mention the political implications of this “mandate” either, including the role that the parliament is likely to play in the eastern part of the country and the parallel government appointed by this assembly elected in 2014.

His forces “will work to create the necessary conditions for the building of sustainable institutions of a state,” he said.

The general also announced “the end of the Skirat agreement” signed in late 2015 in Morocco under the auspices of the UN, from which the GNA was created. In 2017, the strong man of eastern Libya had already assured that the agreement had “expired”. Neither the parliament nor the GNA have commented on the commander’s announcement.

On April 23, Haftar asked Libyans to choose an institution that would assign him the task of governing the country after the end of the Skirat agreement.

He went on to say that a “constitutional declaration” would govern the country. Immersed in chaos since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, Libya is now torn apart by a power struggle between Haftar and the Tripoli government. The general has been trying to seize the capital since April 2019.

Source: CNA