TRIPOLI, July 22 (Xinhua) -- The first conference of Libyan political parties kicked off Wednesday in central Libya's city of Sirte, organizers wrote in a post on the conference's official Facebook account.
Running through Thursday under the theme "Political Parties' Visions for Resolving the Libyan Crisis," the conference has drawn political party leaders and representatives, as well as prominent national figures.
In its opening remarks, the preparatory committee said the conference seeks to unite politically diverse parties under a national framework rejecting exclusion, fostering dialogue, and embracing dissent to forge a shared roadmap out of the current national crisis.
Participants reaffirmed that holding free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections, based on a consensual constitutional framework, represents the most legitimate path toward restoring unified state institutions and renewing their mandate.
Since the 2011 fall of longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has remained split between the UN-recognized Government of National Unity in Tripoli and an eastern administration backed by the Libyan National Army. The Sirte conference is the latest attempt to bridge that divide through party-level dialogue rather than armed confrontation. ■