National elections cannot take place in Libya on 10 December as agreed by its main rival factions at an international conference in Paris in May, eastern military leader Khalifa Haftar allegedly told Italy's foreign minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi at a meeting in Bengasi on Monday, Adnkronos has learned.
According to the powerful military commander, it will not be possible to stage national polls in three months as the eastern-based parliament in Tobruk has not passed the necessary laws.
Speaking to tribal leaders in Bengasi on Friday, Haftar also warned that his Libyan National Army would scupper any elections held in the turmoil-wracked country which were not "transparent".
In a statement endorsed, but not signed in Paris on 29 May, Sarraj, Haftar, the speaker of the house of representatives, Aguila Saleh and the head of the council of state, Khaled al-Mishri, agreed to establish the constitutional basis for 10 December elections and to adopt the necessary electoral laws by 16 September.
"We pledge … to work constructively with the United Nations to hold credible and peaceful elections on 10 December and to respect the results of the elections,” reads a key passage of the joint statement.
Italy strongly opposes an international time-frame for elections and argues that a poll date should set by Libyans and their institutions.
