On Wednesday, the Chairman of Libya’s High National Elections Commission (HNEC), Emad Al-Sayeh received the National Security Adviser, Ibrahim Bushnaf.
The meeting discussed the “necessary measures for conducting fair elections by ensuring the credibility of the documents submitted by voters and candidates, for the electoral process. Most notably ensuring the integrity and credibility of the voter register, and the measures taken in this regard.”
The two parties also agreed to “strengthen cooperation mechanisms between the two institutions, to develop information and databases directly related to the electoral process.”
For his part, Bushnaf affirmed his support for the commission, appreciating the efforts made in preparing for the upcoming elections.
Notably, 51 Libyan political parties have called for a political solution leading to Presidential and Parliamentary elections, and the establishment of “a pluralistic and democratic system.”
The political parties sent a letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, and members of the UN Security Council. They stressed that the “current ruling political bodies lack legitimacy.”
The parties said that they are “aware of the desire of some local and international parties to maintain the current political impasse, to ensure the survival of their interests and gains.”
“Moving forward towards Presidential and Parliamentary elections has become an absolute necessity to restore the legitimacy and unity of state institutions,” the statement concluded.
Libya is currently facing a political crisis after the Libyan Parliament swore in a new Prime Minister, former Interior Minister, Fathi Bashagha in February 2022. Members of Parliament argued that the incumbent Prime Minister, Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba’s mandate expired when the elections failed to take place.
Dbaiba has refused to cede power, amid the fallout from a failed attempt to hold national elections in December 2021.