HoR member Ali Busriba: “We stand with Bashagha project to reach elections, 200 soldiers and 10 new boats to combat illegal immigration”

By Vanessa Tomassini.

“The government of Fathi Bashagha came as a national project. There is a defection and a process of division caused by Abdel Hamid al-Dabaiba after the political agreement. Dabaiba did not adhere to the deadlines, and did not support the electoral process, on the contrary, he obstructed it. He does not have any program or political solution. Fathi Bashagha conducted a dialogue between the various Libyan parties, which obtained the consensus of the majority of Libyan people”. Tell us Dr. Ali Mohamed Busriba, member of the Libyan Parliament from Zawiya, who played a fundamental role in the process of accepting the new Bashagha executive, and a key-political-actor in the Al-Gharbia region, from Tripoli to the border with Tunisia.

Thank you, Dr Busriba, for accepting this interview, why you decided to support the new Fathi Bashagha government?

“As a member of the Parliament from the city of Zawiya, I support Mr. Fathi Bashagha as he has a roadmap and concrete project to solve the political crisis in our country. We stand with this project, not just Bashagha as a personality.”

In your opinion who is responsible for the elections’ failure last December 24?

“Abdel Hamid Dabaiba is the main person responsible for obstructing the electoral process. He did not maintain his promises. He did not pay attention to the electoral process, and above all, he ran for presidential elections despite his moral obligation before the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) in Geneve as a requirement for being appointed Prime Minister last February 2021.”

Does Mr. Fathi Bashagha have a program that guarantees holding elections in the short time?

“Yes, one of the important points that made us adhere to Fathi Bashagha project is the holding parliamentary and presidential elections within a period not exceeding 14 months.  This map was adopted by the Libyan Parliament, the House of Representatives. After the process of handing over powers by Dabaiba, it will work on the constitutional base. I personally expect that the Parliament and High Council of State will agree on the constitutional framework in the meetings expected in Egypt. Libya is now facing many challenges, there is a breakdown in State institutions, but the security situation started to improve in better. Following the agreement on the constitutional basis, I hope the parties will work to vote and adopt a permanent Constitution, so to end all the transitional stages. Therefore, we chose this period to prepare for the elections, because there are some measures that must be taken. For example, we have a problem with national numbers and the official civil registry that must be reviewed and that will take several months.”

How are Libyan relationships with neighboring countries?

“Libya relationship with neighboring countries must be a good one, and we must be helped in investment, construction and development. It is very important that all countries, not only our neighbors but also the European Union, support us because Libya is located in a strategic location that concerns all countries of the world. We hope to see the necessary support to go towards the elections as soon as possible.”

Despite the political instability, Europe is witnessing a reduction in migrant arrivals from Libya. How do you explain that?

“I am assigned by the Parliament speaker Aqilah Saleh to follow up on the illegal immigration file. We prepared a good plan to contrast illegal immigration in coordination with the Stability Support Device. We prepared a force of over 200 militaries whose have been trained and followed foreign courses. We purchased 10 naval boats to follow up the fighting against immigration, as well as fuel smuggling. I am doing my part in this file according to the mandate from the House of Representatives. Thanks to the coordination with this force, we are protecting our maritime borders, preventing illegal immigration and smuggling. In about nine months, we stopped over 200 boats. Actually, there are about nine thousand migrants in shelters. About four thousand immigrants returned to their countries, including Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Syria, Pakistan and Bangladesh. These countries cooperate well with us. We coordinate with their embassies to organize their safe return home within ten days from their identification“.