On Thursday, the US Ambassador to Libya, Richard Norland warned against delaying or obstructing the upcoming Libyan elections, scheduled for 24 December.
In a tweet by the US Embassy, Norland quoted the farewell speech made by the recently resigned UN Envoy to Libya, Jan Kubis, who said that “abstaining from the elections and mobilizing against them, would only put the fate and the future of Libya at the mercy of those inside Libya and their external backers.”
Ambassador Norland also congratulated Stephanie Williams on her appointment as Special Adviser to the UN Secretariat General. He reaffirmed US support for UN efforts to advance the political process, including through national elections to install a permanent unified government.
Williams will lead the mediation efforts and engagements with regional and international stakeholders. This is to pursue implementation of the three intra-Libyan dialogue tracks – political, security, and economic – and support the holding of Presidential and Parliamentary elections in Libya.
“I also wish to thank outgoing Special Envoy of the Secretary-General, Jan Kubis for his dedicated work in harnessing international support for #Libya at this crucial stage in its history,” the Ambassador added.
In a farewell message on the last day of his tenure, Kubis expressed his sincere gratitude to the UN Secretary-General and the Security Council for entrusting him with this position. He described the “honour” it was to work on helping Libya on its path towards stability, unity, and sovereignty.
He stressed that the holding of timely, inclusive, free and fair elections is “critical to breaking the cycle of perennial political transitions, returning to democratic legitimacy, starting to build a truly unified, prosperous, and sovereign state, and putting an end to foreign interference.”
Kubis added that the overwhelming majority of the Libyan people want elections, while many have natural and justified doubts and concerns. He appealed for all citizens to vote for candidates that would guarantee unity, stability, and sovereignty based on national reconciliation, justice, accountability, democracy, rule of law, and good governance.