On Monday, the Acting Special-Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya, Stephanie Williams held a second virtual meeting of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum’s (LPDF) Legal Committee.
The meeting’s discussions focused on legislative and legal foundations necessary for holding national elections.
The head of Libya’s High National Elections Commission (HNEC), Emad al-Din al-Sayeh, attended the meeting and briefed the head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) on progress made by the HNEC in terms of technical preparedness necessary for holding national elections on December 24, 2021. The elections are meant to be held on the basis of an electoral legislation that should be adopted in the coming period.
On 22 August, both Libyan parties to the conflict, namely the Government of National Accord (GNA) and the Libyan National Army (LNA), declared a ceasefire that ended fears about a possible GNA aggression against the port city of Sirte, 370 kilometres east of the capital Tripoli, and Jufra which has a major military airbase.
The ceasefire has been followed by rounds of peace talks in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and Switzerland to discuss post-war arrangements.
So far, the Libyan parties agreed to hold national elections in December 2021, develop “criteria, transparent mechanisms, and objectives” for key power positions, work on the release of all prisoners, protect oil and gas facilities and completely resume production and export activities.
However, the GNA has insisted on maintaining military and security relations with Turkey.