On Saturday, the Spokesperson for the European Union (EU) in the Middle East and North Africa, Luis Miguel Bueno, stressed the need to hold inclusive and credible elections in Libya.
In press statements, Bueno confirmed that the EU provided support to the country’s High National Election Commission (HNEC) to hold the long-awaited elections as soon as possible.
“Libya has an opportunity to build a stable and prosperous future, and we are ready to provide the necessary support at this critical stage, the EU Spokesperson added.
He stressed the need to strengthen dialogue, as it is a necessary basis for building an effective road map, in order to maintain stability and unity and move towards elections in the near future.
Bueno pointed out that the Paris Conference on Libya, which was held last November, showed that there was a clear consensus on holding presidential and parliamentary elections and unifying the state political institutions. He stressed the need to consolidate this great progress.
The Paris Conference was organized by the United Nations (UN), and was attended by regional and world leaders including French President, Emmanuel Macron; Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi; Tunisian Prime Minister, Najla Bouden; German Chancellor, Angela Merkel; Italian Prime Minister, Mario Draghi; the UN Envoy to Libya, Ján Kubiš; the United States (US) Vice President, Kamala Harris; and Libya’s Prime Minister, Abdelhamid Al-Dbaiba as well as the Head of the country’s Presidential Council, Mohamed Al-Mnifi.
He added that, “there is a need for concrete implementation of the 5+5 Joint Military Commission (JMC)’s action plan regarding the withdrawal of all mercenaries and foreign forces from the North African country.”
Notably, Libya failed to hold its presidential election that had been scheduled for December 24th, 2021. This was a major blow to international efforts to end decade-long chaos in the oil-rich Mediterranean nation.
The presidential election was supposed to be the first in Libya since the 2011 NATO-led removal of Gaddafi before he was killed. The country subsequently got engulfed in a civil war and became plagued by armed militias, a fragmented government, endemic corruption, and an escalating migration crisis.