National conciliation key to solve Libya crisis: Menfi
Head of the transitional presidential council of Libya Younes Menfi (R) arrives to attend the 35th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Feb. 5, 2022. (AFP Photo)


Putting a permanent end to the crisis in Libya at all levels will only be possible through national conciliation, the head of the country’s Presidential Council Younes Menfi said Monday.

"The only password for solving Libya’s crisis at all levels is national conciliation," Menfi said.

Libya failed to hold elections on the scheduled day in December 2021 due to disagreements over legal procedures.

Libya's house of representatives deemed the vote, meant to bring an end to the years of conflict in the North African nation, "impossible" to hold on time.

The poll was meant to take place just over a year after a landmark east-west ceasefire in a country that has been ravaged by a decade of conflict since the 2011 revolt that overthrew and killed dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

But the run-up to the country's first-ever presidential election has been overshadowed by angry disputes over its legality and the candidacies of several controversial figures, including Gadhafi's son Seif al-Islam Gadhafi.

One point of contention was a presidential elections law controversially passed by Parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh, which critics say bypassed due process and favored his ally, putschist Gen. Khalifa Haftar.

The law was strongly opposed by factions in western Libya, where Haftar had waged a yearslong battle to seize the capital Tripoli.