Libya factions draft initial election pact amid lingering mistrust

Libyan negotiators have agreed to an initial election pact aimed at ending years of political divisions within the country.

The agreement covers electoral laws and the restructuring of the national elections commission, moving the process toward a highly complex and delicate implementation phase, experts and officials told Al Jazeera.

Since 2014, Libya has been divided between two bitterly opposed administrations that separately control the east and west of the country, with repeated United Nations-led efforts to end the crisis.

Current negotiations have been conducted by a committee consisting of four representatives from the House of Representatives, based in eastern Libya, and four representatives from the High Council of State, linked to the internationally-recognised Government of National Unity in Tripoli.

The United Nations-backed ‘4+4 committee’ signed the initial draft in Tunis on August 20, with the challenge now in getting other parties in Libya on board.

Legal expert Al-Mahdi Kashbour told Al Jazeera that there appears to be a gap between the powers of the parties that signed the agreement and the institutions with the authority to implement it.

Libya political analyst Elias Al-Barouni stressed that the pact does not make any concrete plans for the country’s elections. Even if legal hurdles are cleared, the problem then shifts to who governs Libya in the interim, he added.

This could be the most difficult test yet for the peace process, as the transitional authority would control state resources and have to navigate a highly sensitive security environment.