Internal fragmentation makes Libyan stability tough and difficult – Evarist Bartolo

The road to stability in Libya remains tough and difficult despite a presidential election scheduled later this month, Foreign Affairs Minister Evarist Bartolo said on Tuesday.

He said the situation in Libya is complicated, with military, security and economic factors all intertwining. “There is a lot of internal fragmentation among the Libyan protagonists. A lot of external players form part of this fragmentation. It’s still early to see how things will develop,” he said when asked about the prospects of stability in Libya during a press conference with Clément Beaune, State Secretary for European Affairs of France.

Amid this fragmentation, a presidential election is set to take place in Libya on 24 December after a UN-mediated agreement.

The candidate list raised more questions than answers on Libya’s future. One of the candidates is military renegade Khalifa Haftar, a controversial ruler in eastern Libya, who waged war on the internationally-recognised government in Tripoli until last year.

But the list of candidates also includes Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the second eldest son of the former ruler Muammar Gaddafi, who was deposed in a bloody revolution 10 years ago. Gaddafi was given to go-ahead to run for the presidency a week after being disqualified to run.

Libya’s electoral commission had disqualified him from the election by stipulating that candidates must not have been sentenced for a “dishonourable crime”. Gaddafi had lodged an appeal, but Libyan gunmen attacked the court to stop the appeal from being heard.

“We have to see what’s going to happen. The situation changes from one day to the next. It would be presumptious to say what will happen,” Bartolo warned.

Malta 'extremely exposed' to migration, says French secretary for EU affairs
French European Affairs State Secretary Clément Beaune visited Malta on Tuesday ahead of the French presideny of the European Union.

In a joint press conference, Beaune and Bartolo reiterated the positive relationship between Malta and France.

“We have a lot of issues of common interest,” Beaune said.

Where migration is concerned, Beaune insisted on securing a balance between state responsibility and human rights. He added that more effort needs to be done to push the European migration pact forward, while better political monitoring is needed in the Schengen area.

“We need a holistic approach, not management by crisis,” he continued.

Bartolo added that the EU must be a credible security provider while making sure not to overpromise and subsequently underdeliver.

He added that Malta’s immediate Mediterranean neighbourhood remains important, as is Africa and the Eastern neighbourhood.

On Africa, Bartolo insisted that development needs to be at the core of the agenda. Leaders in the European Union and African Union will be meeting in February, and Bartolo said it would be good to have a sound development plan for job growth and prosperity in the African continent.