\n Libyan delegates at UN-backed talks voted Tuesday for the three-member presidency council, part of a new transitional executive to lead the war-ravaged nation until scheduled December elections.\n<\/p>\n
\n The 75 participants at the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum near Geneva were shown on footage broadcast live by the UN casting their ballots in three boxes, each representing a region of the North African country.\n<\/p>\n
\n The three council posts, a president and two vice-presidents, will represent Tripolitania in the west, Cyrenaica in the east and Fezzan in the south. Results are expected later on Tuesday.\n<\/p>\n
\n The 24 candidates for the three posts gave campaign speeches on Monday via videoconference, with many calling for reconciliation and the withdrawal of the estimated 20,000 foreign forces and mercenaries still on Libyan soil.\n<\/p>\n
\n According to the UN, the future transitional council will be tasked with \"reuniting state institutions and ensuring security\" until elections slated for December.\n<\/p>\n
\n Delegates will then have until Friday to vote for a prime minister, with 21 candidates vying for that post, who will also offer campaign speeches via video to the Geneva talks.\n<\/p>\n
\n Oil-rich Libya has been torn by civil war since a NATO-backed uprising led to the ouster and killing of long-time dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.\n<\/p>\n
\n The country is now split between the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) and its rival, the eastern-based House of Representatives backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar, who launched a failed offensive to seize the capital in 2019.\n<\/p>\n
\n A fragile ceasefire agreed in Geneva in October has largely held despite threats by Haftar to resume fighting.\n<\/p>\n
\n Candidates from western Libya have called for the perpetrators of \"war crimes\" to be prosecuted.\n<\/p>\n
\n One of the most prominent council candidates in the east is key powerbroker Aguila Saleh, the current speaker of the Tobruk-based parliament.\n<\/p>\n
\n The current GNA Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha, a heavyweight in local politics, is a favourite for the post of prime minister.\n<\/p>\n
\n The political talks kicked off in mid-November in Tunisia, where the 75 delegates were tasked with laying out a roadmap towards elections.\n<\/p>\n
\n In mid-November, participants agreed to organise \"national\" elections on December 24, 2021.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Libyan delegates at UN-backed talks voted Tuesday for the three-member presidency council, part of a new transitional executive to lead the war-ravaged nation until scheduled December elections. The 75 participants at the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum near Geneva were shown on footage broadcast live by the UN casting their ballots in three boxes, each representing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-72635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n