In a statement released Sunday, the National Gathering of Libyan Parties warned that the proposal, spearheaded by U.S. presidential adviser Massad Boulos, threatens to derail a United Nations-backed roadmap designed to finally hold national elections by February 2027.

The coalition said it was following with "deep concern and condemnation" political consultations and movements taking place outside Libya regarding the country's political future. The alliance argued that such efforts are conducted without national consensus and seek to entrench de facto authorities while prolonging Libya's transitional period.

Specifically, the coalition rejected the controversial initiative proposed by Boulos, the U.S. president's senior adviser for Arab and African affairs, as well as the visits and political maneuvers associated with it. The alliance stated they constitute an infringement on Libya's internal affairs and undermine the Libyan people's right to self-determination.

The U.S. initiative vs. the UN framework

Spearheaded by Boulos, the American plan relies on transactional diplomacy to merge Libya’s fractured institutions by striking a pragmatic power-sharing deal between the country’s primary rival factions. However, the plan also couples this political unification with a push to open Libya's vast oil reserves, the largest in Africa, to U.S. energy investments, while managing a new transitional government for up to three years.

This approach has drawn sharp domestic criticism. Opponents argue the plan bypasses established United Nations diplomatic channels, led by UN envoy Hanna Tetteh, which recently succeeded in getting Libya's rival factions to agree to national elections by February 17, 2027.

The National Gathering reaffirmed that ending the current transitional phases through free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections, based on a consensual constitutional framework, remains the only viable path to resolving Libya's political crisis. They stressed that any true roadmap must ensure the active participation of all domestic political forces, particularly formalized political parties, rather than just armed factions or entrenched elites.

Libya has been trapped in a severe institutional split since its planned December 2021 elections collapsed. The country remains divided between the UN-recognized Government of National Unity (GNU) under Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh in Tripoli, and eastern-based authorities aligned with the House of Representatives and military commander Khalifa Haftar. The dual governments have caused parallel spending crises that the country's Central Bank warns are financially unsustainable.

The National Gathering of Libyan Parties, which comprises 24 distinct political parties, aims to coordinate the positions of its member parties, strengthen their participation in the political process, promote an end to the country's gridlock, and advocate for democratic elections as the sole means to conclude Libya's prolonged post-conflict transition.