On Tuesday, the General Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar welcomed a delegation from the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), led by UN Envoy, Abdoulaye Bathily in Benghazi.
The meeting involved discussions around the latest political developments on the Libyan stage. They confirmed the necessity of pushing towards conducting Presidential and Parliamentary elections.
Bathily, via his Twitter account, stated that he had fruitful discussions with Haftar about the current political situation. They agreed on the necessity of addressing contentious issues in the electoral laws.
They also emphasised the importance of the participation and acceptance of all relevant Libyan institutions, and key parties to reach a political settlement that paves the way for conducting successful and inclusive elections that meet the aspirations of the Libyan people.
Bathily urged Libyan institutions and key stakeholders to agree on a roadmap to deliver elections as soon as possible, across the country.
In a statement published earlier on Tuesday, UNSMIL said the elections “should be held on a constitutional and legal basis, through dialogue, compromise, and constructive engagement. This call comes in line with the guidance from the Security Council’s resolution 2656 (2022) adopted on 28 October 2022.”
UNSMIL added that it has “engaged all Libyan political and security leaders, relevant institutions and civil society to discuss how to create a pathway to successful, inclusive and credible elections.”
The statement noted that UNSMIL has assigned a team comprised of electoral, constitutional, and gender experts to provide technical assistance to the 6+6 Joint Committee in preparing draft electoral laws.
“The Mission recognizes the efforts of the 6+6 committee as an important step forward. However, the draft electoral laws in their current state would not enable successful elections. Further work is needed to make the draft laws implementable by addressing the legal loopholes and technical shortcomings identified by the High National Elections Commission (HNEC),” the statement added.
Bathily informed the Security Council of the intention to convene key Libyan institutions and stakeholders, or their trusted representatives, to reach a final settlement on the most contentious issues.
