Libya’s Presidency Council chief calls for unified army under civilian authority

Serdar Dincel

The head of Libya’s Presidency Council, Mohamed Menfi, called on Wednesday for unifying the national army under a joint professional command subject to civilian authority.

“The time has come to make the necessary decisions to unify the national army under a joint, professional, and neutral command under civilian authority,” Menfi wrote on the US social media company X.

He said Libya needs “a military institution that distances itself from politics, whose weapons are used to protect borders, safeguard resources, combat smuggling, protect the governing constitutional authorities, and consolidate the democratic system and state sovereignty.”

Menfi warned that the multiple military representations in Libya “place us before a national responsibility that cannot tolerate further postponement.”

Libya has remained politically divided for years between rival administrations in the east and west, while repeated efforts to organize nationwide elections have stalled amid disputes over the constitutional basis and candidate eligibility criteria.