Government of National Accord

Division under the GNC

Following the 2012 creation of the General National Congress (GNC), several factions have expressed concern with its actions. While the majority of elected officials in the GNC were moderate or liberal, the elected president, Nouri Abusahmain, as well as a strong minority of officials represented islamist parties, like the martyrs bloc and the Justice and Construction Party, causing unrest among liberals and exasperating political divides in Libya. Further decisions to impose exclusionary rules that prevent those who served under Gadaffi from holding office in the GNC, to impose sharia law, and to extend the mandate of the GNC another year, postponing general elections also caused dissent towards the GNC. On February 14, 2014, Khalifa Haftar called for the dissolution of the GNC, and creation of a president's council that could better organize a constitution and free elections and in May he led a militia offensive called Operation Dignity which seized control Tripoli.

On June 25, 2014, elections were held for the new Libya legislative body, the Council of Deputies or House of Representatives, even as Haftar's militia continued its campaign with attacks in Benghazi. Moderate and liberal groups became the majority of the Council of Deputies, but because of low turnouts (estimated as low as 18% of the electorate), islamist groups rejected the results. Meanwhile islamist militias began attacks and bombings in major cities, including the assassination of Salwa Bughaighis, a women's rights activist, in Benghazi and a car bombing in al-Bayda. Islamist militias soon seized control of Misrata and created its own campaign, called Operation Libya Dawn.

The results of these conflicts were a renewed civil war and a divided Libyan government, with anti-islamist groups in Tripoli, islamist groups in Misrata, and the internationally backed Council of Deputies relocated to Tobruk. As this civil war continued, efforts to create a new national unity government began.

Creation of the GNA

Efforts to mend divisions in Libya began in early 2015. On January 15, 2015, Operation Dignity forces agreed to a ceasefire with Operation Libya Dawn, while the Torbuk government agreed to talks with the Libya Dawn backed GNC, but several key members of Libya Dawn and its GNC government did not attend the planned talks in Geneva. Throughout the first half of 2015, the United Nations facilitated talks between factions to draft a plans for a unity government that would bring an end to the civil war, but those proposals met resistance from all factions, with a fourth draft being rejected by the Council of Deputies on June 9. After continued talks throughout the remainder of 2015, a peace agreement between the two factions was signed on December 17 in Skhirat, Morocco. The agreement created a Presidential Council and the High Council of State and established the Government of National Accord. Despite bipartisan support of the agreement, both factions also had members who did not support the deal and it was feared that well-armed militias would not comply to deal.

The GNA held its first meeting in Tunis on January 8, 2016, had nominated ministers to all positions by February and received a vote of confidence from the House of Representatives in on March 12, 2016. On March 30, 2016, the Government of National Accord moved its Presidential Council to Tripoli despite threats from militant groups in the city. The presidential council is currently operating out of a naval base in the city. Support for the GNA has since continued to grow. Elders from the Tuareg and Toubou peoples have expressed support for the GNA.

Conflict with the Tobruk government

Despite the early deals that were made, the Tobruk-based House of Representatives voted against approving the GNA during the summer of 2016 and became their rival for governing Libya. In the early months of 2017, cooperation between the two governments broke down completely. In February, a meeting between Field Marshal Khalifa Hafter and Prime Minister Sarraj took place in Cairo, but despite Egyptian and Russian pressure the two sides were unable to come to an agreement. In March, the pro-GNA Benghazi Defense Brigades seized control of the oil facilities in the Gulf of Sidra region from the eastern parliament's Libyan National Army, which had captured them back in September 2016. The LNA launched a counterattack and the Tobruk government demanded the GNA to condemn their acts. The Council of Deputies later withdrew its recognition of the GNA and called for new elections to be held by early 2018.

Structure and Ministers

The Government of National Accord is codified in the Libyan Political Agreement signed in December 2016. This agreement has been unanimously endorsed by the United Nations Security Council which has recognized that the Government of National Accord is the sole legitimate government of Libya. The Libyan Political agreement gives executive authority to the GNA, while leaving legislative authority to the House of Representatives as it was following the June 2014 elections. It also establishes the High Council of State, a consultative body independent of GNA.

The Government of National Accord under the Libyan Political Agreement comprises a cabinet of ministers and a presidency council. The cabinet of the Government of National Accord has 17 ministers and is led by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj and two Deputy Prime Ministers. The Prime Minister is also the chair of the Presidential Council. Ministers in the cabinet need to be unanimously approved by the Prime Minister and his deputies and ministers can likewise only be removed with a unanimous decision of the Prime Minister and his deputies.

The Government of National Accord is granted one year term from the date the House of Representatives grants it a vote of confidence, but this term will be automatically extended an additional year if a new constitution is not completed and implemented during the term. The GNA can also be dissolved by a vote of no confidence from the House of Representatives, or by the death, vacancy, or resignation of the Prime Minister.

The following ministers were proposed in January 2016: