Libyan elections postponed, new date expected within 30 days – UN envoy

The UN envoy, Stephanie Williams, on Thursday, said Libya’s presidential election had been postponed with a new date expected to be announced within 30 days.

Ms Williams, the deputy head of the UN Support Mission in Libya for political affairs, said this after her 10 days visit to the county to help implement intra-Libyan political, security and economic dialogues.

Having arrived in Libya on December 12, Ms Williams said she had heard “time and again the overwhelming desire of Libyans to go to the ballot box.”

The Libyan presidential election was scheduled to be held with the first round on December 24, and the second round on January 24, 2022.

She said the overwhelming desire of Libyans to go to the ballot box would determine their future and to end the long transitional period through the holding of inclusive, free, fair, and credible elections.

“I have also heard their genuine hopes that elections must be part of the solution and not part of the problem in Libya,” Ms Williams said in a statement.

On Wednesday, the High National Elections Commission announced that despite being technically prepared, it was unable to meet the December 24 date set by the political roadmap for national elections.

Citing inadequacies in electoral legislation and challenges and appeals related to candidates’ eligibility, the commission requested that the House of Representatives set, within a 30-day period, another date for the first round of the presidential election.

They also asked that the necessary measures be taken to address the difficulties facing the completion of the electoral process.

“The United Nations takes note of the Commission’s recommendation to the House of Representatives and welcomes its commitment to the ongoing electoral process and to continuing the review of the applications of the candidates for parliamentary elections,” Ms Williams said.

The Special Adviser maintained that she was ready through mediation and the UN’s good offices, to work with the concerned Libyan institutions and interlocuters to address challenges.

She called upon those concerned to honour and support the will of the 2.8 million Libyans who had registered to vote.

According to her, the current challenges in the electoral process should in no way be instrumentalised to undermine the stability and progress which has been achieved in Libya over the past 15 months.

The envoy urged the relevant actors to focus on the electoral process and on creating the political and security conditions needed to hold “inclusive, free, fair, peaceful and credible elections, whose outcome will be accepted by all parties.”

In addition to her work surrounding the election, the Special Adviser met with hundreds of people from all regions to lead mediation efforts and engage with Libyan and international partners.

She observed that since the UN-facilitated ceasefire agreement was signed in October 2020 and the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum Roadmap adopted in November 2020, “tangible progress” had been achieved.

Against the backdrop of relative calm across the country as the ceasefire continued to hold, she was able to travel on the coastal road between Misrata and Sirte, which was reopened through the efforts of the 5+5 Joint Military Commission (JMC), comprising military representatives from opposing sides.

During her trip, Ms Williams was “particularly pleased to witness a shift from a discourse of conflict to one of peaceful dialogue.”

Despite the many hardships endured by numerous Libyans and the pleas of those still displaced by the 10-year conflict, she spoke with scores who had recovered a sense of normalcy.

“Even those who only last year bore arms against each other have continued to come together.

“I have heard stories of separated families that could finally travel to visit relatives – a development made possible by the ceasefire and resumption of flights and the reopening of roads,” she said.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, issued a statement through his Deputy Spokesperson, Farhan Haq, taking note of the announcement.

“It is imperative that the will of the people is respected.

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“Presidential and parliamentary elections must take place in Libya in the appropriate conditions to peacefully end the political transition and transfer power to democratically elected institutions,” he said.

He added that Ms Williams will “continue to support a Libyan-led and Libyan-owned process to address outstanding challenges and ensure the holding of Presidential and parliamentary elections as soon as possible.”

(NAN)