Tripoli: Khalifa Haftar, the head of the military in Libya, called on Friday for the establishment of a single technocratic government to oversee the long-delayed elections in place of the competing governments that are currently vying for power.

Since Muammar Qaddafi was overthrown by a NATO-backed uprising in 2011, Libya has been torn by a more than ten-year-long, intermittent conflict, with a variety of militias forming rival alliances backed by foreign governments.

The country is still divided between a Haftar-backed government in the east and a nominally interim one in Tripoli, which is located in the west.

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Elections for the president and parliament were scheduled for December 2021, but they were never held because of disagreements over important issues, such as who should be eligible to run.

Following negotiations in Morocco last week, both parties agreed on the legal procedures to hold the elections but refrained from signing a deal, indicating that some differences still exist.

The eligibility of soldiers and dual nationals to run is one of the hotly debated issues.
Additionally a citizen of the United States, Haftar is accused by his critics of wanting to reinstate the military dictatorship in Libya.

The United Nations has stated that it will work to help resolve differences between the opposing sides so that the elections can happen before the end of the year.

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In a statement released on Friday, Haftar's so-called Libyan National Army pleaded with the competing governments "to end the political divisions and form a new unified government comprising technocrats tasked with organising elections."

UN envoy Abdoulaye Bathily, according to the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), "initiated a series of meetings with political leaders in Libya, regional and international partners, and other stakeholders to hear their analysis and discuss potential ways forward."

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The statement claims that some of Bathily's interview subjects expressed reservations about the agreement reached last week in Morocco, stating that it "could hinder elections from a practical and political standpoint." There were no more details provided