To escape no-confidence vote: Libyan PM accuses neighboring countries of exporting terrorism to his country

Mustafa Kamel

Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dabaiba seeks to avoid pressure from the Libyan parliament to withdraw confidence from the unity government he leads by escalating with Libya’s neighboring countries, specifically Tunisia, against the background of closing the borders due to Tunisian fears of infiltration by terrorist elements and carrying out operations targeting Tunisia’s security, as he accused it of exporting terrorism after the entry of 10,000 terrorists to Libya who came mainly from neighboring countries.

Border closures

On Sunday, August 22, Dabaiba announced the complete closure of the Ras Ajdir and Dehiba-Wazen border crossings despite the Libyan authorities’ efforts to open them, and the security authorities justified their position by the health measures taken to prevent the spread of the corona virus.

Exporting terrorism

Dabaiba confirmed the entry of 10,000 terrorists into Libya who came mainly from neighboring countries, in reference to Tunisia, adding that the number of Libyans among them can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

Addressing the Tunisian authorities, Dabaiba said, “If Tunisia wants to build real and honest relations with us, the neighboring countries must be respected. We have become clever about international games, and we cannot accept the repetition of previous scenes. We cannot accept that the Libyans are laughed at again.”

In a speech addressed to the Libyans on Friday evening, August 27, Dabaiba denounced the accusation of terrorism in his country, noting that terrorism was coming to Libya from abroad and that he had sent a delegation to Tunisia to clarify the Libyan position and to reach an understanding with the Tunisian government regarding this strange accusation.

Dabaiba’s statements come in response to reports published by Tunisian and Libyan media in which Tunisia said that hundreds of extremist elements in Libya were preparing to enter Tunisia to carry out acts of chaos and terrorist plots, which were later denied by Tunisian Foreign Minister Othman Jerandi, who confirmed that the decision to close Tunisia’s borders with Libya was motivated by health, not security.

Observers believe that the escalation that occurred during Dabaiba’s speech against its western neighbor Tunisia and the accusation of exporting terrorism was an attempt to escape from internal pressures with a social, health and financial dimension, pressures resulting from the government’s failure to deliver the promises made by Dabaiba. They pointed out that the escalation with Tunisia was an attempt to bully the Libyan parliament, which refuses to ratify the budget and threatens to withhold its confidence in the government, as reflected in the statements of Parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh.

Obstructing Libyan state

On the other hand, Dabaiba attacked the parliament and accused it of obstructing the work of the state by refusing to ratify the budget. He said that the parliament’s reasons for not approving his repeated budget proposals are “unreal and flimsy,” blaming the parliament for obstructing the elections scheduled for December.

A growing squabble over the budget has emerged as a key element among rival political factions, undermining the UN-backed process seen as the best chance for peace in years.

Amid the deepening political stalemate, many Libyans fear that the process that succeeded in forming a unified government for the first time in years could lose momentum.

Dabaiba explained that the election problem is not logistical, but rather a purely legislative problem, noting that his government has presented a program to facilitate and implement the electoral process, in which failure to hold the elections will end the political process and explode the conflict that has devastated vast swathes of Libyan cities, which has attracted major external powers and given foreign mercenaries a foothold along the front lines.

It is noteworthy that the Libyan parliament decided last week to summon the Government of National Unity (GNU) led by Dabaiba to appear before it during an interrogation session to be held in Tobruk after the growing state of discontent about the government’s performance and the emergence of parliamentary calls for the withdrawal of confidence from it, as 11 Libyan MPs demanded withdrawing confidence from the GNU because of what they called its continued waste of public money and failure to implement its pledges to improve services, as well as exceeding its powers and its interference in the military field.