Two days of talks about constitutional arrangements for elections have begun with two senior Libyan officials. This is the latest effort by the United Nations to close the gaps between the country’s rivals. The two leaders Aguila Saleh, the speaker of the country’s east-based parliament and Khaled al-Meshri, head of the government’s High Council of State, from the west, met at the UN headquarters in Geneva.
The goal of these talks is to develop a constitutional framework for elections after the factions didn’t make an agreement in a similar round of talks in June in the Egyptian capital of Cairo. The criteria for a presidential candidate was a large point of discussion in the previous round of talks. There are growing tensions in Libya with clashes between rival militias erupting in Tripoli. Fuel shortages in the country have also led to deteriorating living conditions. Rival Prime Ministers, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah and Fathi Bashagha are both claiming power and have sparked fears of continuing fighting.
Read more: Rival Libyan officials hold UN-led election talks in Switzerland
