Abdullah Alkabir
The UN Security Council has approved the appointment of Ghanaian diplomat, Hannah Serwaa Tetteh as the UN Special Envoy to Libya. A long time passed behind the scenes of the Security Council before the dispute over who would succeed the former envoy, Abdoulaye Bathily, was resolved between Russia on the one hand and America and Britain on the other.
After the name of the Ghanaian candidate was put forward to the Council by the UN Secretary-General, the members voted in approval, but the Russian delegate asked for some time to study before announcing his country’s approval of Ms Tetteh.
The UN envoy appointed by the Security Council has broad powers, compared to the limited and narrow powers of the acting envoy, as is the case with Ms Stephanie Koury, who took over the task after Bathily, and did not succeed in mobilizing international support for any political initiative that could yield some results, and break the political stalemate and the blocked horizon towards holding elections>
This prompted her to announce the formation of an advisory committee to review the election laws, and put forward proposals regarding the formation of a new executive authority. However, it does not appear that this committee has any powers other than submitting proposals, with no guarantees that they will be accepted by the de facto authorities.
Ms. Hanna, the new UN envoy, has extensive experience in political and diplomatic work. According to her resume, she has held several tasks and responsibilities both in her country and at the United Nations. However, the task entrusted to her does not only require experience, competence, and diplomatic skills.
The envoys who preceded her did not lack experience, because the Libyan crisis is becoming more complex with the passing of days, and foreign interventions with conflicting interests are increasing, in addition to the absence of national will among the internal parties, who are always ready to undermine any initiative that will inevitably lead to them losing their authority and influence.
The problem has never been in the personality and nationality of the UN envoy, but rather in the international and regional conflict.
Perhaps the declared differences in the Security Council between the major powers, which sometimes reach the point of verbal abuse and exchange of accusations, are the main dilemma in the Libyan crisis, and there are no indications of the possibility of reaching a minimum level of consensus that translates into clear and binding decisions that put the country on the path to a solution.
Russia continues its penetration into Libya to be its main base in Africa, and a supply center for fighters, weapons and ammunition for the rest of the countries in which Russia has influence, as well as security and military agreements. This prompts America and Britain to move to confront the Russian expansion, and prevent the establishment of long-term military bases in Libya.
In addition to the Russian-Western conflict, there are other less intense conflicts because they are rather competitions than conflicts such as those between France and Italy, and between Egypt and Turkey, but they affect the Libyan situation, and any of these countries can thwart any change that does not serve its interests.
In this situation, the UN envoy finds herself/himself like someone walking on a tightrope suspended in space. S/he must walk carefully and maintain her/his balance so as not to fall into the void. Balance here means taking into account the interests of all countries involved in the conflict.
Can the new envoy, or any envoy, satisfy all these countries, despite their different and sometimes contradictory interests?
Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that the mission of the UN envoy to facilitate consensus among the various conflicting parties is almost impossible, because the international and regional climate is turbulent and does not lead to calming the conflict zones or resolving the escalating crises on all continents.
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