(Reuters) – Libya’s parliament confirmed on Wednesday that parliamentary and presidential elections would be postponed from Dec. 24.
Below is a timeline of Libya’s peace process after years of division between warring administrations in east and west:
Jan. 19, 2020 – Foreign powers meet in Berlin under U.N. auspices to draw up a ceasefire deal and peace plan for Libya.
June 5, 2020 – The Libyan National Army (LNA), based in the east, ends a 14-month assault on Tripoli, seat of the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA).
Oct. 23, 2020 – LNA representatives and pro-GNA armed forces sign a ceasefire in Geneva, promising to withdraw foreign mercenaries and reopen closed routes across front lines.
Oct. 26, 2020 – A blockade by eastern-based forces on oil exports ends and the National Oil Corp (NOC) can boost oil production, Libya’s main source of revenue.
Nov. 11, 2020 – The U.N.-backed Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) that groups factions agrees on setting up a transitional government and holding presidential and parliamentary elections on Dec. 24, 2021.
Feb. 6, 2021 – LPDF chooses Abdulhamid Dbeibah as interim prime minister and Mohamed al-Menfi as head of a three-man presidency council. They have mandates to prepare for elections.
Mar. 10, 2021 – Libya’s divided parliament holds its first unified session in years, approving Dbeibah’s cabinet and handing powers to the new unified administration.
April 20, 2021 – Parliament rejects Dbeibah’s budget and divisions in Libya re-emerge as LNA forces turn away the prime minister’s security team at Benghazi airport in the east.
July 30, 2021 – A joint military committee agrees to reopen the main coast road across the east-west front line but cannot agree on removing mercenaries who remain on frontlines.
Sept. 9, 2021 – Parliament speaker Aguila Saleh issues a law for the presidential election on Dec. 24. The High State Council, an advisory body, rejects the law.
Sept. 21, 2021 – Parliament withdraws confidence from Dbeibah’s government, saying it can continue in a caretaker capacity and indicating transitional arrangements will not be supported after Dec. 24.
Oct. 4, 2021 – Parliament approves a new law for a parliamentary vote, delaying it to a new date to be set in January. The High State Council opposes the law.
Nov. 8, 2021 – The electoral commission starts registering presidential candidates. The first round presidential vote is set for Dec. 24 with a runoff 52 days later, when the parliamentary vote will be held.
Nov. 14, 2021 – 95 candidates register for the presidential race include Dbeibah, LNA commander Khalifa Haftar and Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of Muammar Gaddafi, the autocrat whose overthrow in 2011 set of a decade of chaos and violence.
Nov. 24, 2021 – The electoral commission disqualifies 25 candidates, including Gaddafi. Dbeibah and Haftar are approved.
Dec. 11, 2021 – The electoral commission says it is not ready to publish full list of candidates, after disputes during appeals over the qualification process, including armed efforts to stop Gaddafi’s legal team entering a court.
Dec. 22, 2021 – Parliament’s electoral committee confirms it will be impossible to hold the vote on time.
(Compiled by Angus McDowall; Editing by Edmund Blair)
