The Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General issues a statement on Libya
Libyan Cloud News Agency – Tripoli
The Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General on Libya, Stephanie Williams, issued a statement on her work in Libya since her arrival on 12 December, 2021.
Williams said that over the course of the past ten days, she held talks with Libyan and international stakeholders to pursue implementation of the three intra-Libyan dialogue tracks—political, security, and economic–and to support the holding of presidential and parliamentary elections in Libya.
She indicated that tangible progress has been achieved since the signing of the ceasefire agreement in October 2020 and the adoption of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum Roadmap in November 2020, both facilitated by the United Nations, confirming that the ceasefire is holding and a state of relative calm is prevailing across the country.
She stated that the Libyans have the desire to go to the ballot box to determine their future and to end the long transitional period through the holding of inclusive, free, fair, and credible elections that must be part of the solution and not part of the problem in Libya.
Williams referred in her statement to the postponement of the elections by the High National Elections Commission due to difficulties related to the inadequacies in the electoral legislation and the process of challenges and appeals related to the eligibility of candidates.
She said that she was ready to work with the concerned Libyan institutions and the broad range of stakeholders to address these difficulties through good offices and mediation, calling upon the concerned institutions to honor and support the will of the 2.8 million Libyans who registered to vote.
She concluded that the current challenges in the electoral process should not undermine the stability and progress which has been achieved in Libya over the past 15 months, urging the relevant institutions and all political actors to focus on the electoral process and on creating the political and security conditions to secure the holding of inclusive, free, fair, peaceful, and credible elections, whose outcome will be accepted by all parties.