Representatives of Libya's rival political forces signed an agreement on Aug. 30 to hold long-delayed national elections within two years.

The text specifies legislative and presidential elections under a single executive authority within a period not exceeding 24 months. The signing took place at the offices of the UN Support Mission in Libya in Tripoli.

The 4+4 format

The deal came out of a smaller format known as 4+4, in which each of Libya's four main institutions sends two representatives.

Those institutions are the Government of National Unity, the High Council of State, the House of Representatives and the Libyan National Army. The talks addressed contested points in electoral law and reform of the elections body.

After 2021

Libya's political process has been stalled since elections scheduled for December 2021 collapsed, with disputes over the eligibility of leading candidates the immediate cause of postponement.

In the nearly five years since, no election date has held, and parallel structures of administrative authority have hardened.

Implementation terms

The agreement carries an enforcement clause: if the House of Representatives and the High Council of State do not approve it within a month, the parties will seek to adopt it nationally as a constitutional document through broad mechanisms and to secure international backing through the UN Security Council.

The provision reads as a hedge against delayed ratification. Such workarounds have rarely functioned as designed.

Variables that remain

The detailed provisions of electoral law, the composition of the elections commission, and how a single executive authority would be formed are all still to come. A signature starts the process rather than completing it.

This paper reports the content and terms of the agreement while withholding any forecast of implementation two years out. In Libya, comparable agreements have repeatedly stopped at the implementation stage.