The US Ambassador to Libya, Richard Norland stressed the importance of Libya’s energy sector to the global oil market, especially at the given time.
Norland said this in response to a question by the Libyan News Agency, about the impact of the war in Ukraine on the global oil market.
The US ambassador called for ensuring that the Libyan oil revenues are dealt with correctly, and that these revenues “go when the general budget is presented to where they should go. A mechanism must be found to ensure this, and the Libyan parties and the government should adopt this mechanism,” Norland stressed.
The US Ambassador also renewed US calls for the urgent need to hold elections in Libya. “We would be surprised if the elections were not organized urgently, and those who advocate postponing them for a long time are wrong. The Libyan people want the elections sooner rather than later,” Norland said in a press interview in the presence of the US Under Secretary of State for Administrative Affairs, John Bass and Assistant Secretary of Diplomatic Security, Gentry Smith.
He pointed out that the US strongly supports the initiative of the United Nations Special Envoy for Libya, Stephanie Williams to establish a constitutional base. He confirmed that there is an international consensus around the initiative.
“We urge the Libyans to join in supporting this process, and we are optimistic that this momentum will be restored to the elections as soon as possible,” Norland concluded.
Last week, Williams called on the Libyan Parliament to “respond quickly and positively” to her proposal to form a joint committee with the High Council of State (HCS). This is to set a constitutional basis that would lead to elections as soon as possible.
Williams said Libya’s two chambers will hold talks in Tunisia this week to reach a consensual constitutional basis for the upcoming national elections. The Libyan Parliament did not attend the meeting in Tunisia on Tuesday, while the HCS participated.
“Any constitutional amendment must be a purely Libyan decision, which will be focused on through the work of the joint committee between the two chambers,” Williams said.