On Saturday, the United States (US) Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, held a meeting with the United Nations (UN) Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily, in Washington to discuss the Libyan people’s demand for presidential and parliamentary elections.
During the talks, the Secretary of State praised the UN mission’s great efforts to promote consensus among Libyans to enable elections in 2023.
“The US stands firmly with the Libyan people in their demand to finally choose their own leaders, Blinken said in a tweet.
Ahead of his briefing to the UN Security Council, Bathily also met with senior officials from Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Qatar, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the United Kingdom (UK) on Friday to discuss the Libyan file.
During his talks, the UN Envoy updated the participants on his recent consultations with Libyan leaders and institutions in order to promote consensus leading to elections in 2023, the US Department of State said.
It said that participants took note of the achievements made by the Libyan House of Representatives (HoR) and High Council of State (HCS) in Egypt-facilitated negotiations on a constitutional basis for elections, and consulted on the next steps in finalising election preparations.
In remarks to the visiting officials, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy R. Sherman underscored the US agreement with Bathily that Washington should help make 2023 the year of free and fair Libyan elections.
On Tuesday, Bathily said that there is an increasing convergence of views that Libyan elections should take place in 2023.
In a thread on his Twitter account, Bathily noted that ahead of his departure for the Security Council briefing in New York, he consulted with Libyan leaders.
He explained that he held consultations with the Head of the Presidential Council; Mohamed Al-Mnifi, Parliament Speaker; Ageela Saleh, the Head of the HCS; Khaled Al-Mishri and the General Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA); Field Marshall Khalifa Haftar.
Bathily added that he also consulted with a delegation representing the Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity (GNU), Abdelhamid Dbaiba.
“I welcome the commitment of all towards finding a Libyan-led solution to the political crisis. We must all work together to end the current impasse, and meet the aspirations of the Libyan people,” he noted.
In an interview with Al-Sharq TV, Saleh added that “the Parliament is the only legislative authority in the country that has the right to take decisions and enact laws, and that the HCS has an advisory role only.”
He pointed out that the “constitutional document for organising the electoral process must be subject to a popular referendum before it is approved.” As well as adding that “the conflict of personal interests and external interference led to the continuation of the transitional stages in the country and the disruption of the electoral process.”
Saleh expressed his rejection of holding elections under the supervision of the GNU, headed by Dbaiba.
“The elections are the only solution to end the crises in Libya,” he concluded.