Menfi calls on Dbeibah to clarify government’s position on statements by Minister Walid Al-Lafi

Presidential Council’s Head Mohammed Menfi criticized statements by Minister of State for Communication and Political Affairs in the Government of National Unity Walid Al-Lafi, who described the eastern and western sides as “de facto authorities,” saying the remarks raised questions about the government’s position on its legitimacy and the basis on which it exercises its powers.

In a post on X, Menfi said that a government minister’s acknowledgment that the executive authority had become a “de facto authority” went beyond the bounds of personal opinion and raised questions about the “actual position within the government” and the basis on which it exercises its powers.

Menfi said it was untenable for an authority to derive its existence from a political framework and then disavow it, arguing that the unified executive authority should not be reduced to one side of the country or governed through the logic of domination and the imposition of a fait accompli.

He called on GNU Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah to formally clarify his government’s position on Al-Lafi’s remarks, saying the Presidential Council would put the matter “in all its dimensions before the relevant national forces.”

Menfi President warned that the current stage could not tolerate “double positions or ambiguity in commitments,” stressing that he would act in accordance with the country’s interests while keeping all “national and institutional options open.”

Al-Lafi had said that the smaller “4+4” committee meeting represented direct negotiations between the “de facto authorities” in eastern and western Libya, arguing that the process compelled the parties to assume their responsibilities rather than use other fronts to obstruct the political process.