July 6 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has denied on Wednesday an alleged plan by the special representative of the UN Secretary General in the country, Abdoulaye Bathily, to announce a road map for the country’s elections.
“UNSMIL has become aware of fake news circulating on local and regional news networks about an alleged plan to announce a roadmap to the Libyan elections by (…) Bathily,” reads a statement.
As indicated by the mission, “the false news is part of an ongoing disinformation campaign to deceive the Libyan people.” It has also urged the media and social media influencers to prioritize channels with “accurate and authentic” ads.
Bathily informed the Security Council in mid-June that the efforts with a view to the next elections are “insufficient” and asked for their support to lead the country to “successful elections”.
The also head of UNSMIL 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, he “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.”
He 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 enough to resolve the most controversial issues and allow successful elections.”
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.
