Rival Libya Leaders Meet in Geneva in Bid to Salvage Elections

Tuesday saw a meeting in Geneva between the leaders of Libya's two opposing legislative chambers. The goal of the talks was to restart an electoral process overseen by the UN that broke down in December.

An agreement on national elections would be a significant step toward putting an end to the unrest that has characterised the ten years since the NATO-supported overthrow of Moammar al-Gaddafi in 2011.

The 2015 Libyan Political Agreement acknowledged both groups as the two legislative bodies, although since the country's 2014 pision into eastern and western factions, they have frequently engaged in open conflict.

Aguila Saleh, the speaker of the Libyasn parliament, and Khaled al-Mishri, the chairman of the High State Council, arrived at the UN headquarters in Geneva on Tuesday morning and sat sternly, separated by Stephanie Williams, the UN's Libya adviser.

She added at the opening of the negotiations, which got underway at 11:00 CET, "It is now the time to make a final and courageous effort to ensure that this historic compromise takes place" (09:00 BST).

In order to "ensure a clear road to the holding of national elections as soon as feasible," she continued, the timetable and procedure would be discussed.

UN Political Affairs Chief Rosemary DiCarlo expressed her optimism prior to the talks that they would produce a "final and implementable agreement that would lead to the elections at the earliest possible date."

Analysts, on the other hand, were less upbeat since they believed there were limited chances to stop de facto partition or a renewal of hostilities.

The political standoff that has reopened rifts between the opposing factions involved in the most recent major battle that was interrupted two years ago might be helped by a deal on the election-holding procedure.

With one administration in the capital Tripoli and a competing one supported by the parliament in the coastal town of Sirte, there is currently no consensus on how to forward the political process or who should lead the country in the run-up to elections.