June 20 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The special representative of the UN Secretary General for Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily, has informed the Security Council that the efforts with a view to the next elections are “insufficient” and has asked for their support to lead the country to “successful elections”. .
The also head of the UN Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has expressed his concern that the disputes in the electoral process “lead to a dead end”, which translates into “greater polarization and even destabilization of the country “.
For this reason, Bathily has “called on this Council to increase the pressure on the relevant bodies and use their individual and collective influence to ensure that they demonstrate the necessary political will to lead their country to successful elections,” reads a official statement.
Bathily has recognized the efforts of the 6+6 Committee -created to finalize the electoral laws- “as an important step forward”, although he has qualified that “it is not (is) enough to resolve the most controversial issues and allow successful elections”.
The head of UNSMIL has pointed out that while “the proposed laws represent significant progress”, the National Electoral High Commission is concerned about “the serious loopholes and technical deficiencies of these bills”.
In this sense, Bathily’s main concerns revolve around “the lack of agreement on the eligibility criteria in the presidential elections, the link between these and the parliamentary elections and the issue of forming a new unified government.”
“It is crucial that steps are taken to overcome persistent disagreements on these long-standing issues. Libya’s top decision-makers must put the best interests of the Libyan people above all else and come to a political agreement on these matters. “, Bathily has sentenced.
Finally, the special representative of the UN Secretary General for Libya has pointed to the current conflict in Sudan as “a source of destabilization” and has guaranteed that they are “monitoring the situation closely.”
The country is divided into two administrations after the House of Representatives ended the mandate of the prime minister of unity, Abdul Hamid Dbeibé, for the postponement of the presidential elections in December 2021 and appointed Fazi Bashaga to the position, recently suspended from office and replaced by now Finance Minister Osama Hamad.
Dbeibé was elected as prime minister by the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) in February 2021, replacing the until then prime minister of unity, Fayez Serraj, who agreed to cede his powers after the consultation process, which began after a ceasefire agreement after the Tripoli authorities rejected the military offensive launched in April 2019 by General Khalifa Haftar, aligned with the authorities based in the east.
