Libya’s High National Elections Commission (HNEC), held a meeting with the 6+6 Joint Committee. It provided a briefing on its technical notes on the Presidential and Parliamentary election laws. This was attended by HNEC Chairman, Emad Al-Sayeh on Monday.
The Committee was formed by the Libyan Parliament and the High Council of State (HCS), under the 13th Constitutional Amendment. The Committee is tasked with establishing the nation’s electoral laws.
The Spokesman for the Libyan Parliament, Abdullah Blaiheg said that the Committee discussed with Al-Sayeh the technical notes to take them into account in the committee’s work in preparing electoral laws.
Notably, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) vowed that it will provide technical and logistical support to the Committee to establish electoral laws.
The UN Envoy to Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily urged the leaders of the two chambers to expedite the work of the committee, and publish a timebound work programme.
“For elections to take place this year, the electoral laws must be completed in time for HNEC to begin implementing the electoral process by early July,” Bathily said in his brief to the UN Security Council last week.
Bathily noted that Al-Sayeh informed him that, “while awaiting the electoral laws and the provision of necessary funds, the Commission has started initial preparations for the electoral process.”
He called on the Libyan government to provide HNEC with “all necessary resources to complete its mandated tasks in a timely manner.”
“Leaders and representatives of military units and security formations operating in western, eastern, and southern Libya committed to supporting all stages of elections, reject violence throughout Libya, take practical steps for the safe return of internally displaced persons, release detainees, and address the missing persons issue in the context of national reconciliation,” Bathily told the Security Council.