On Monday, the UN Secretary General’s Special Advisor to Libya (SASG), Stephanie Williams revealed that “there is no clear roadmap or vision for the elections in Libya so far.”
In an interview with Al-Sharq News TV channel, she said that the United Nations proposed to play a mediating role between incumbent PM, Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba, and his Parliament-designated rival, Fathi Bashagha. This is in order to draw up a roadmap for elections.
The SASG pointed out that the current electricity crisis “is a direct result of the failure to operate more than 50% of oil facilities since April.” She explained that the UN “did not, and does not recognise governments, as this is an issue related to bilateral relations between countries.”
Williams stressed that the UN is “committed to meeting the needs of the Libyan people, especially after the recent angry demonstrations that swept the country over the political turmoil and deterioration of basic services.”
“We are in constant contact with all parties in Libya,” she said. As well as noting that she had met with members of the 5+5 Joint Military Commission (JMC), and rival Chiefs of Staff in the Eastern and Western regions, in order to stress the need to maintain the ceasefire agreement.
The UN diplomat called on Parliament Speaker, Ageela Saleh and the Chairman of the High Council of State (HCS) Khaled Al-Mishri to overcome differences over the Presidential elections. “We made a lot of progress on the constitutional track during the Cairo and Geneva meetings,” she claimed.
There is currently no agreement on how to move the political process forward, and on who should rule the country in the lead-up to elections. Dbaiba’s government remains in the capital, Tripoli while Bashagha has set up his cabinet in the coastal town of Sirte.
Libyans fear the crisis will derail efforts to get the elections back on track, and could return the country to territorial partition and civil war.