TRIPOLI, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- Libyan experts believe that the deep disagreement over the mechanisms for selecting a new government threatens the future of the UN-sponsored Libyan political dialogue, which requires more concessions and international pressure on the Libyan parties to agree on the form of the upcoming transitional authority.

"The differences that prevail within the political dialogue have become clear. The United Nations (UN) has even hinted at the difficulty of solving the Libyan crisis all at once, and that the issue needs many stages and rounds to create harmony between all parties," Khalid al-Montaser, a Libyan professor on international relations, told Xinhua.

"We strongly welcome the cease-fire agreement and the success of the military track, to clear the way for the political track to complete the formation of a new executive authority, which ends the division and the state of fragmentation of the country's institutions and prepares the atmosphere for the upcoming elections," he said.

Under the auspices of the UN, the first round of Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) took place in Tunis on Nov. 9 with the participation of 75 Libyans representing the social and political spectrum of the Libyan society to discuss a political roadmap to achieve lasting peace.

The participants agreed to hold national elections on Dec. 24, 2021.

The first virtual meeting of the second round of the LPDF was held on Monday to discuss the criteria for selecting the unified executive authorities for the preparatory period preceding the elections, according to the UN Support Mission in Libya.

Libyan political analyst Imad Jalloul believes that the ongoing dialogue between the Libyan factions must end quickly in order to avoid the return of the military conflict.

"The recent cease-fire agreement clearly paved the way for politicians to sit at the negotiating table, after such negotiations were out of reach a few months ago when the language of guns prevailed in western Libya," Jalloul told Xinhua.

"Regional and international parties pushed towards stopping the war after the withdrawal of (Khalifa) Haftar's forces (eastern-based army). The same parties can play a major role in pushing for rapid consensus on the mechanisms for selecting the new executive authority, which is possible if the international will for that is available," Jalloul added.

The dispute about the mechanisms and criteria for selecting the upcoming government at the LPDF was over the method of voting for the candidates of the prime minister and the new presidential council, local media reported.

Acting Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General Stephanie Williams recently told the UN Security Council that "ten years of war cannot be solved in one week of political talks, but we hear more now the language of peace rather than the language of war."

Iman Jalal, a Libyan university professor, believes that the UN mission has so far failed to achieve any progress in the political dialogue this month, and is trying hard to save what can be saved and put forward new proposals.

"The United Nations has only succeeded in bringing the Libyans together at one table," Jalal told Xinhua. "The solution and consensus are still far away in reality."

"I believe the political parties do not have much confidence in the existing dialogue. The pressure of the UN mission on all participants to sign a written pledge that they will not participate in the new executive authority is something that many of them do not like. Therefore, some try to punish the United Nations indirectly by obstructing consensus over mechanisms of the selection of the future government that will replace the Government of National Accord (GNA)," she said.

The UN-backed GNA and the rival eastern-based army were engaged in a deadly armed conflict for more than a year in and around the capital city of Tripoli, which ended recently with the GNA announcing taking over all of western Libya after withdrawal of the eastern-based army.

The Libyan factions signed a permanent cease-fire agreement on Oct. 23 in Geneva. Enditem

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