Gonzi says Libyans should embrace Malta’s effort in bringing unity to Libya

In a direct message to Libyans living in Malta, former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi urged them to "embrace Malta’s genuine effort to bring unity instead of division”, during a conference in which the former prime minister stressed the importance of diplomacy, as opposed to a military intervention in the North African state.

A recent decision by Libya’s House of Representatives to withdraw from the UN-backed peace talks has once again left hopes of a national reconciliation in tatters. Bernardino Leon, the UN’s special envoy to Libya, had recently called on the international community to put on hold any thoughts of an international intervention, now that substantial progress in the peace talks had been registered.

Gonzi, who played a pivotal role in assisting the Libyan uprising in 2011, called on the Tripoli-based House of Representatives led by Prime Minister Al-Thinni to review their position.

“Think twice, think what is at stake,” Gonzi said, pointing out that discord in Libya only provided fertile ground for terrorist groups.

The former premier said that Malta, Europe and the international community had to ask itself one crucial question - “Do we turn a blind eye to all of this? Do we resign to an inevitable collapse and give way to Libya to be led by dictators, forcing submissions and torture?”

Gonzi said that it was imperative that the international community and the European Union continue to believe that Libya and its people “can and are able to resolve their differences and to translate their dreams that inspired the revolution into reality”.

“Malta took high-risk decisions based on the notion that, as a sovereign people, the Libyans have the right to see their will prevail,” he said.

Gonzi said it was his deep conviction that no authoritarian regime could suppress the people’s will to live in a democratic state, and that the shocking events in Libya and the internal displacement of people should “impose urgent responsibility on the Libyans’ representatives to work together for a national unity government.”

Gonzi said those at the negotiating table had to understand this was not about one side giving in but the desire to provide security.

He said this was not impossible to reach, and Europe, with its own history of cruelty and torture, could serve as an example and share its experiences with Libya.

“Europe is still in time to aid Libya in building institutions, something which it should have done with greater vigour,” he said.

Journalist and analyst specializing in Libya Mary Fitzgerald said the speed of Libya’s unraveling had been incredible, with entire districts laid to waste.

Beyond the warring factions, entire regions, communities, families and social circles have been divided because they disagree on the nature of the crisis, what caused it and how it could be resolved.

Talking about ‘a new generation of exiles’, Fitzgerald said the situation had worsened to the point that central hospitals report shortage of medicinal supplies, a shortage of fuel and some even resort to firewood for cooking.

Libya, she said, faces economic collapse in a few years’ time with falling oil stocks and depleting reserves.

“Cafes are busy and the streets are lined with children wearing uniforms going to school. Yet there is a deep undertone of unease and uncertainty which has driven many to silence or exile. Distrust and paranoia have grown across the country and people are wary of criticising the status quo,” she said.

Fitzgerald said there was no difference between the east and the west in this feeling of unease. One Libyan told her that while the world spoke of two governments, “Libya is not being governed by a government; it is governed by fear, whether in the east or the west.”

She said that while some describe the crisis as essentially a struggle between secularists and Islamists, Libya remained a widely conservative country - “I have seen conservatives described as liberals simply because they fight Islamists.”

According to Fitzgerald, the fight was ultimately a scramble between groups rooted in economic, social and political dimensions, and ideology was not the main driving force in the current crisis.

“Each side has its Achilles heel and pushes its own narrative – one side speaks of fighting Islamist forces while the other speaks of fighting remnants of the former Gaddafi regime.”

She said that the conflict was with the Misrata militias against the Zintanis and the West; and the elites who prospered under Gaddafi and the new elites that emerged following the Libyan revolution. “The question that continues to torment Libya is ‘what are we going to do with the young boys who have experienced the power of the gun?’’’