As Libya’s cease-fire continues to hold, the country can take the next step toward long-term stability by addressing its institutional legitimacy crisis. Without public trust in decision-making bodies, the country will struggle with crucial issues at the heart of the conflict, such as Libya’s vast oil wealth and how to distribute it. Democratically elected leadership is the best way forward — but elections remain elusive amid a political and military stalemate.
USIP’s Andrew Cheatham spoke with Can Dizdar, the director general for the Middle East and North Africa at the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Abdoulaye Bathily, the U.N. special representative of the secretary-general for Libya and head of the U.N.’s Libya mission; and Ambassador Richard Norland, the U.S. special envoy to Libya, to discuss the current state of Libya’s political and security crises, the hurdles in developing a credible and transparent electoral process, and what the international community can do to support Libyans going forward.
