Tripoli— The UN mission to Libya presented on Sunday the Advisory Committee (AC) report to both the Government of National Unity (GNU) and the Presidential Council (PC). By doing so, the mission begins taking practical steps to develop a roadmap towards long-awaited elections.
The UN’s Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Libya Hanna Tetteh, and her Deputy Stephanie Koury briefed PM Abdulhamid Dbeibeh on the work of the AC, “including the options presented in its final report and the envisioned next steps,” according to the an UNSMIL statement.
The AC recommendations, while not binding, are expected to serve as a “starting point for the discussion to develop a consensual roadmap towards elections,” it said.
The statement has not made public those options and recommendations the AC or the potential steps that the UNSMIL will be taking to achieve its stated goals. Will, for instance, the UN push for establishing a new unified government that organizes the elections within a certain period, as many parties demand?
Ms. Tetteh and the PM exchanged views on the “recent security tensions in the western region, underscoring the utmost importance of maintaining stability in Libya,” according to the statement. They also discussed the state of human rights in the country, including the case of the disappearance of MP Ibrahim Al-Dersi.
The UNSMIL delegation also met with the President of the Presidential Council Mohamed Menfi and the SRSG “emphasized that the AC report, the options and recommendations will serve as a basis for discussion with all stakeholders on a consensual roadmap towards elections.”
SRSG Tetteh invited feedback from the team of the President Menfi and stressed that she intended to seek views from the wider Libyan public.
The SRSG also presented the report to the other two members of the Presidential Council, Abdullah Al-Lafi and Musa Al-Koni, and emphasized “the necessity of all Libyan stakeholders to engage constructively going forward.”
It is expected that the UNSMIL delegation will be travelling to Benghazi to present the AC’s report to Speaker of the House of Representatives, the head of the parliament-appointed government in eastern Libya as well as the Commander-in-Chief of the Libyan National Army.
On 5 May, the Advisory Committee, established by the UNSMIL, completed its deliberations and finalized a set of options to address contentious issues in Libya’s current electoral framework.
The AC is a group of 20 Libyan personalities with expertise in legal, constitutional and electoral issues, held over twenty sessions both in Tripoli and Benghazi since its establishment on 4 February in line with paragraphs 2 and 5 of Security Council resolution 2755 (2024). The group also consulted with the High National Election Commission and members of the “6+6” Committee which produced the current electoral laws in 2023.