The Regional Spokesman for the United States (US) Department of State, Samuel Warburg, said that his country strongly supports the mediation efforts of the United Nations (UN) Envoy to Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily. This is to encourage all parties to work in good faith to reach an agreement on a constitutional framework and a specific timetable for elections.
In press remarks, Warburg stressed the need for all Libyan political leaders to work together to set a viable date for elections. “Our goal in Libya is to see Libyan leaders agree to hold elections as soon as possible and to meet the demands of the Libyan people for a unified elected government that can build a more secure and prosperous future for Libya,” he added.
The US State Department Spokesperson affirmed that Washington consistently stood by the Libyan people in their attempts to establish democratic bodies. He revealed that the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, will visit Cairo in early February to discuss crisis in Libya and other files.
Earlier this month, the Head of the Libyan Presidential Council (PC), Mohamed Al-Mnifi, briefed the US Special Envoy to Libya, Richard Norland, on the efforts to break the political stalemate.
Al-Mnifi received a telephone call from Norland, and the two sides discussed the PC’s efforts to “advance the political process, in order to achieve the aspirations of Libyan people to hold elections as soon as possible.”
According to the statement, Norland affirmed US support for the PC in the national reconciliation project, and the progress it has made through the recently preparatory forum.
Norland expressed Washington’s appreciation to Egypt for facilitating the meeting between the Speaker of the Libyan Parliament, Ageela Saleh, and the Head of the High Council of State (HCS), Khaled Al-Mishri.
In a tweet, Norland said that the conclusion of the discussions in Cairo “leaves no reason to postpone setting an early date for parliamentary and presidential elections.”
“We share the desire of all Libyans to see Libyan leaders adopt the necessary measures as quickly as possible, allowing High National Election Commission (HNEC) to proceed with setting the electoral process in motion. We express our appreciation to the government of Egypt for facilitating this important milestone,” he added.