UN Mission Head's Criticism Of Libyan Parliament Over Elections 'Dangerous' - Dengov

The criticism of Libyan parliament over its purported unwillingness to conduct general elections by Ghassan Salame, the head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), is "dangerous," Lev Dengov, the head of the Russian Contact Group for intra-Libyan settlement, told Sputnik.

PALERMO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th November, 2018) The criticism of Libyan parliament over its purported unwillingness to conduct general elections by Ghassan Salame, the head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), is "dangerous," Lev Dengov, the head of the Russian Contact Group for intra-Libyan settlement, told Sputnik.

In September, Salame suggested that the parliament members were deliberately putting off the general elections in the hope to maintain their positions.

"I would not do this if I were him because the parliament right now is a rather influential participant in the political process, and everyone's opinion should be respected ... In my opinion, it is dangerous, definitely dangerous," Dengov said.

At the same time, the head of the contact group stressed that Salame was brilliant at his job.

"We will see what it leads to because he [Salame] is doing his job brilliantly and he has established good and open relationship with all sides in this conflict," Dengov said.

The head of the contact group added that he could understand Salame's concerns "because it is surprising when you agree on something with one of the sides, and you seem to be approaching results when suddenly one of the sides absolutely fails to adhere to its commitments.

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"Something should probably be changed in the approach or this could go on forever ... We know countries where the UN approach has not influenced the ultimate result so far," Dengov said.

The elections in Libya are expected to be held in early 2019. Participants of the Conference for Libya in Palermo, attended by Libyan and foreign politicians, said earlier in the day that they welcomed Salame's proposal to hold general elections in the spring of 2019.

Libya has been gripped by conflict since 2011, when the country's longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed. The eastern part of the crisis-torn state is governed by its parliament, with headquarters in the city of Tobruk. The parliament is backed by the Libyan National Army. At the same time, the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), headed by Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj, operates in the country's west and is headquartered in Tripoli.