The United Nations Libya mission urged leaders to stick to the Dec 24 timeline for the presidential and legislative polls it hopes will help stabilize the war-battered nation.
Libya has struggled to move past the violence that has wracked the oil-rich nation since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed dictator Moammar Gadhafi, with political wrangling over the date of the polls being the latest stumbling block.
A cease-fire between eastern and western factions last year led to a fragile unity government taking office in March, with a mandate to take the country to elections.
Part of an agreed-on road map was to hold elections on the same day.
Foreign powers have been pushing hard for elections to be held as scheduled, after the date was agreed at U.N.-led talks last year.
The U.N. Support Mission in Libya, or UNSMIL, believes that a double vote would boost the “credibility” of the polls and “the acceptance of the results of the elections.”
“Respecting the principle of simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections on Dec. 24, 2021, is needed to preserve the integrity of the electoral process,” UNSMIL said in a statement late Saturday.
But there are deep disagreements between the government in the capital Tripoli in the west, led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, and parliament in the eastern city of Tobruk, led by Aguila Saleh.
In September, Saleh signed off on legislation for the December presidential election, which critics said bypassed due process and favored a run by his ally, the eastern putschist Gen. Khalifa Haftar.
It sparked an angry reaction from Tripoli.
Haftar is widely expected to stand as a presidential candidate but is despised by many in Libya’s west.
Then in early October, parliament split the dates of the vote by postponing legislative elections until January.
Just over two weeks later, Dbeibah promised the vote would be held “on time.”
The Libyans have proven, time and again, that they have the courage, resilience and determination to stabilize their country and bring the political process to a viable conclusion. Turkey will stand by Libya in this journey,” said Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Önal last week, speaking at an international conference in Tripoli on Thursday to help build stability in Libya.
The official underlined the importance of holding the elections in a free, fair and credible manner so its results are acceptable to all parties in the country.
Source: Daily Sabah