There are many issues pending clarification with regards to local realities in Libya.  These include determining the most influential local government authorities and local figures in Libya, and how they may interact with provincial, national and/or regional power brokers. Moreover, it is also necessary to find answers to the questions: why do national-level alliances keep failing to negotiate effective power-sharing agreements and whether Libya could possibly become “a future of city states?”

In order to answer these and other questions, the KAS Regional Program Political Dialogue South Mediterranean, in cooperation with the Madrid-based think tank Stractegia, organized a Libyan-Libyan dialogue event in Tunis. The closed-door roundtable “Back to the Basics? Municipal Councils and Local Peacebuilding in Libya” brought together Libyan politicians and government officials in addition to members of civil society, security institutions and the private sector. Representatives of selected international institutions also joined as participants and observers.

The following brief builds on the insights, proposals and conclusions that have been formulated by the participants of this workshop. While not exhaustive, the takeaways mentioned in the following brief are meant to reflect the perspectives of locally engaged Libyans on the current role of local government authorities and how those authorities may help to overcome the present impasse.