The United Nations Special Envoy to Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily said that his upcoming roadmap “will be supported by all international and local actors inside and outside Libya.”
In televised statements, Bathily added: “We put forward this set of recommendations that will lead to a roadmap for holding elections in 2023.”
He pointed out that the “elected legitimate institutions are what will achieve stability in Libya. We aspired to achieve this, and there are many expectations about the electoral process through political dialogue.”
Bathily stressed the need for all parties to “come together to discuss the security of the electoral process, and how to best conduct it.”
The UN Envoy pointed out that the “international community has a role to support the intra-Libyan solution, and now it is in the development stage.”
On Monday, Bathily announced an initiative aimed at enabling legislative and Presidential elections this year, and will set up a high-level steering panel, he told the United Nations Security Council on Monday.
During his briefing, Bathily said the mechanism “would bring together representatives of political institutions, major political figures, tribal leaders, civil society organizations, security officials, and other relevant groups.”
He noted that the UN Support Mission to Libya (UNSMIL) “endeavours to facilitate dialogue with representatives of armed groups in the coming weeks. I chaired two-day meetings, on 7 February in Egypt with representatives from Sudan and Chad. They agreed on the mechanism of joint coordination and exchange of information between the three countries, and the withdrawal of mercenaries and foreign fighters.”
He indicated his intention to “visit two neighbouring countries and Chad to discuss the implementation of an action plan.”
