Libya's parliament speaker announces to run for president in upcoming elections
November 18, 2021, 1:43 am

Libya's parliament speaker announces to run for president in upcoming elections

Libya map/Shutterstock

The Xinhua reported, Aguila Saleh, the speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives, announced on Wednesday that he is running for president during the upcoming elections.

Saleh made the announcement during a televised speech, where he stressed his respect for "the constitutional declaration and the independence of the judiciary."

The speaker said: "We will work to leave the past behind, end the conflict, look forward to the future, and achieve national reconciliation since it's the base for building the nation."

Flag of Libya

Saleh's decision came a day after Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the eastern-based army of Libya, announced his candidacy. Saleh is widely seen as a political ally of Haftar.

The Xinhua mentioned that Libya is expected to hold general elections on Dec. 24 this year, as part of a roadmap adopted by the UN-sponsored Libyan Political Dialogue Forum with the aim to realize stability in Libya.

It added that Libya's interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah and Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, a son of the late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, have also declared their presidential bid.

Source: xinhua

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.