The United Nations (UN) envoy to Libya on Friday said if Libya’s legislative bodies fail to agree on electoral laws in a timely manner then the UN will have to look at other alternatives, indicating that no more delay in the election will be acceptable, reported Reuters.
Abdoulaye Bathily, the head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), is seeking to break the long internal political stalemate in Libya with an election this year.
Last month, he announced a new initiative to speed up the political process, prompting the House of Representatives (HoR) and the High State Council (HSC) to set up a committee to look at electoral laws.
“They have to deliver on this in a timely manner,” he told Reuters in an interview on Friday from Tripoli.
The UN envoy said at that time that the new committee would work to bring together representatives of political institutions, civil society groups, and others who will then work together to pave way for the adoption of a legal framework in the conflict-hit country and prepare a time-bound road map for the elections.
During the interview, Bathily said that if the electoral laws are not finalized on time then the authorities will be accountable to the Libyan people as well as the international community.
When asked what alternatives the UN was considering if Libyan leaders fail to follow through, Bathily said, “We will talk about that when the time comes.”
Notably, Libya has been faced with multiple crises since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, who had ruled the oil-rich nation since 1969. The UN has been working to support a peaceful resolution to the crisis ever since.
In December 2021, Libya postponed and then canceled critical presidential and parliamentary elections due to legal disputes and other challenges, resulting in disappointment both within and beyond the country’s borders.
