Government of National Accord

Government of National Accord
حكومة الوفاق الوطني
Provisional government overview
Formed17 December 2015
Dissolved10 March 2021
Superseding Provisional government
JurisdictionLibya
HeadquartersTripoli
Government of National Accord (GNA)
Dates of operation2015–2021
HeadquartersTripoli, Libya
Allies Turkey
 Qatar
Syrian opposition Syrian National Army
 Italy[1]
 Malta[2]
 United Nations
 United States[3][4]
 Pakistan
 Palestine
[5]
 Algeria[citation needed]
 Morocco[citation needed]
 Iran[6]
OpponentsLibya Libyan National Army
Islamic State Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
 United Arab Emirates
 Saudi Arabia
 Egypt[7]

 Greece
 France
 Russia
 Syria[8]
 Israel

 Jordan[9]
 Chad[7]
Battles and warsSecond Libyan Civil War

The Government of National Accord (GNA; Arabic: حكومة الوفاق الوطني) was an interim government for Libya that was formed under the terms of the Libyan Political Agreement, a United Nations–led initiative, signed on 17 December 2015.[10] The agreement was unanimously endorsed by the United Nations Security Council, which welcomed the formation of a Presidency Council for Libya and recognized the Government of National Accord as the sole legitimate executive authority in Libya.[11] On 31 December 2015, Chairman of the Libyan House of Representatives, Aguila Saleh Issa declared his support for the Libyan Political Agreement.[12] The General National Congress has criticized the GNA on multiple fronts as biased in favor of its rival parliament the House of Representatives.[13]

As of 2016, the Government of National Accord had 17 ministers and was led by the Prime Minister. The first meeting of the cabinet of the GNA took place on 2 January 2016 in Tunis.[14] A full cabinet consisting of 18 ministers was announced in January 2016.[15]

The Prime Minister of GNA, Fayez al-Sarraj, and six other members of the Presidential Council and proposed cabinet arrived in Tripoli on 30 March 2016.[16] The following day, it was reported that GNA has taken control of the prime ministerial offices.[17]

After March 2016, conflict between the two rival parliaments, the Libyan House of Representatives and the General National Congress (GNC), intensified.[18] Despite previously supporting it, the Libyan House of Representatives withdrew its recognition of GNA by voting against it in the summer of 2016 and becoming their rival for governing the country.[19] Despite being backed by only parts of the GNC and without formal approval from the Libyan House of Representatives, who called for new elections to be held by February 2018,[20] the GNA is recognized, as of September 2020, by the United Nations as Libya's legitimate government.[21]

From 2015 to 2016, GNA struggled to assert its authority and was largely unsuccessful in unifying Libya. The Government of National Accord's ultimate viability was uncertain given that the country remained greatly divided across political, tribal and ideological lines.[22]

The mandate and legality of the Government of National Accord expired in 2017 according to the Libyan Political Agreement, Parliament and the United Nations which endorsed it.[23]

On 10 March 2021, the House of Representatives formally approved the formation of a Government of National Unity led by Mohamed al-Menfi as chairman of the Presidential Council and Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh as Prime Minister with the aim of unifying the Government of National Accord with the rival Tobruk-based Government.[24]

  1. ^ "Italy, Libya sign defense deal over military training, hospitals". Daily Sabah. December 5, 2020.
  2. ^ "Malta teams up with Turkey in an attempt to make Libya stable". Times of Malta. 25 July 2020.
  3. ^ "Libyan warlord faces legal action in US for alleged war crimes". the Guardian. September 4, 2020.
  4. ^ "US declares support for LNA, says Haftar-led attacks on Tripoli must end". Daily Sabah. May 23, 2020.
  5. ^ "Libya, Palestine ink five agreements in various fields | the Libya Observer". Libya Observer.
  6. ^ "Iran FM voices support for Turkey-backed Libya government". Middle East Monitor. 17 June 2020., June 17, 2020
  7. ^ a b "Khalifa Haftar says Egypt and Chad are his top supporters". Libyan Express. September 6, 2016.
  8. ^ Pamuk, Humeyra (May 7, 2020). "U.S. says Russia is working with Syria's Assad to move militia to Libya". Reuters – via www.reuters.com.
  9. ^ Express, Libyan (May 23, 2019). "Jordan arming Libya's Haftar with armored vehicles and weapons".
  10. ^ "As Libya marks 64th independence anniversary, UN envoy urges unity behind new Government". United Nations. 24 December 2015. Archived from the original on 27 January 2016.
  11. ^ "Unanimously Adopting Resolution 2259 (2015), Security Council Welcomes Signing of Libyan Political Agreement on New Government for Strife-Torn Country". United Nations. 23 December 2015. Archived from the original on 30 January 2016.
  12. ^ Zaptia, Sami (1 January 2016). "Ageela Salah now supports UN-brokered Skhirat agreement: Kobler". Libya Herald. Archived from the original on 24 February 2016.
  13. ^ "A Powerful Show of Support for the House of Representatives". Stratfor. 11 January 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2017.[permanent dead link‍]
  14. ^ Zaptia, Sami (2 January 2016). "Serraj holds GNA meeting in Tunis". Libya Herald. Archived from the original on 27 January 2016.
  15. ^ "Libya rivals announce unity government as part of UN-backed plan". The Guardian. 19 January 2016. Archived from the original on 28 January 2016.
  16. ^ "Support grows for Libya's new unity government". AFP. 1 April 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  17. ^ "Rebel Tripoli administration vanishes". 31 March 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-04-10. Retrieved 2016-04-03.
  18. ^ "Holding Up the Peace Process in Libya". Stratfor. 17 February 2017. Archived from the original on 22 September 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  19. ^ "Libya's eastern parliament votes against U.N.-backed government in Tripoli". Reuters. 22 August 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2017.[dead link‍]
  20. ^ "HoR calls for presidential and parliamentary elections in Libya in early 2018". Libyan Express. 9 March 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  21. ^ Traina, Malik. "Libya's GNA: Haftar allies disrupting municipal elections in east". www.aljazeera.com.
  22. ^ "One year on, UN-backed government fails to unite Libya". The National. Archived from the original on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
  23. ^ Pusztai, Wolfgang (13 December 2017). "Libya: The "Expiry" of the LPA and Its Consequences". Institute for International political studies. Institute for International political studies - Italy. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  24. ^ "Libya lawmakers approve interim govt in key step towards elections".