United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres urged the Libyan parties to resume the electoral process that was halted in December. He stated that the elections are now “more essential than ever.”
“It is the responsibility of Libyan institutions and political officials to resume the electoral process as soon as possible. For the benefit of more than 2.8 million registered Libyan voters, who were looking forward to the polls on 24 December 2021, in a Presidential election that did not take place,” Guterres said in a report submitted to the Security Council and published by the AFP.
The UN Chief confirmed that the ceasefire agreement signed in October 2020 is still holding. Meanwhile, he urged all parties to refrain from any unilateral actions that would exacerbate existing divisions, trigger conflicts, or threaten the “significant and hard-won” progress achieved in the past two years towards stability and unity.
Guterres stressed that the Libyans must commit themselves unequivocally to holding free, fair, inclusive, and credible Presidential and Parliamentary elections, based on an agreed constitutional and legal framework.
He said the Libyans should avoid causing disturbances in the oil sector, and ensure that all government employees are paid on time and fairly.
Notably, the eastern-based Libyan Parliament announced the unanimous appointment of Fathi Bashagha as the new Prime Minister on 10 February. But incumbent PM, Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba warned that the appointment of a new interim government could lead to war and chaos in the country. He renewed his pledge to only hand power over to an elected government.
Bashagha has since made two failed attempts to enter Tripoli, and assume control. Rival forces prevented him from staying for more than 4 hours in the capital.
He condemned the armed escalation carried out by armed groups in Tripoli. Bashagha said he was surprised by the dangerous military escalation, despite him and his ministers entering peacefully.