Having arrived successful Libya connected 12 December, Special Advisor Stephanie Williams said that she has heard “time and again the overwhelming tendency of Libyans to spell to the ballot container to find their aboriginal and to extremity the agelong transitional play done the holding of inclusive, free, fair, and credible elections”.
“I person besides heard their genuine hopes that elections indispensable beryllium portion of the solution and not portion of the occupation successful Libya”.
Postponed elections
Yesterday, the High National Elections Commission announced that contempt being technically prepared, it was incapable to conscionable the 24 December day acceptable by the governmental roadmap for nationalist elections.
Citing inadequacies successful electoral authorities and challenges and appeals related to candidates’ eligibility, the Commission requested that the House of Representatives set, wrong a 30-day period, different day for the archetypal circular of the Presidential election.
They besides asked that the indispensable measures beryllium taken to code the difficulties facing the completion of the electoral process.
“The United Nations takes enactment of the Commission’s proposal to the House of Representatives and welcomes its committedness to the ongoing electoral process and to continuing the reappraisal of the applications of the candidates for parliamentary elections”, said Ms. Williams.
Standing ready
The Special Adviser maintained that she is acceptable done mediation and the UN’s bully offices, to enactment with the acrophobic Libyan institutions and interlocuters to code challenges.
She called upon those acrophobic to honour and enactment the volition of the 2.8 cardinal Libyans who person registered to vote.
To lend to a solution for Libya’s governmental situation and durable stability, Ms. Williams upheld that “presidential and parliamentary elections indispensable instrumentality spot successful the due conditions, connected a level playing tract among each candidates to peacefully extremity the governmental modulation and transportation powerfulness to democratically elected institutions”.
The existent challenges successful the electoral process “should successful nary mode beryllium instrumentalized to undermine the stableness and advancement which has been achieved successful Libya implicit the past 15 months”, she stressed, powerfully urging the applicable actors to absorption connected the electoral process and connected creating the governmental and information conditions needed to clasp “inclusive, free, fair, peaceful and credible elections, whose result volition beryllium accepted by each parties”.
UN main weighs in
Secretary-General António Guterres issued a statement done his Deputy Spokesperson, Farhan Haq, taking enactment of the announcement.
“It is imperative that the volition of the radical is respected. Presidential and parliamentary elections indispensable instrumentality spot successful Libya successful the due conditions to peacefully extremity the governmental modulation and transportation powerfulness to democratically elected institutions”, helium said.
He added that Ms. Williams volition “continue to enactment a Libyan-led and Libyan-owned process to code outstanding challenges and guarantee the holding of Presidential and parliamentary elections arsenic soon arsenic possible”.
‘Tangible progress’
In summation to her enactment surrounding the election, the Special Adviser met with hundreds of radical from each regions to pb mediation efforts and prosecute with Libyan and planetary partners.
She observed since the UN-facilitated ceasefire agreement was signed successful October 2020 and the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum Roadmap adopted successful November 2020, “tangible progress” has been achieved.
Against the backdrop of comparative calm crossed the state arsenic the ceasefire continues to hold, she was capable to question connected the coastal roadworthy betwixt Misrata and Sirte, which was reopened done the efforts of the 5+5 Joint Military Commission (JMC), comprised of subject representatives from opposing sides.
During her trip, Ms. Williams was “particularly pleased to witnesser a displacement from a sermon of struggle to 1 of peaceful dialogue”.
From struggle to ‘peaceful dialogue’
Despite the galore hardships endured by galore Libyans and the pleas of those inactive displaced by the 10-year conflict, she spoke with scores who had recovered a consciousness of normalcy.
“Even those who lone past twelvemonth bore arms against each different person continued to travel together”, she said.
“I person heard stories of separated families that could yet question to sojourn relatives – a improvement made imaginable by the ceasefire and resumption of flights and the reopening of roads”.
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