Tripoli, 22 February 2014:
The organisation of the elections for the Constitution Drafting Committee has been praised by UNSMIL Secretary-General for Libya, . . .[restrict]Tarek Mitri.
He met with the High National Elections Commission (HNEC) head Nuri Elabbar on Thursday, visiting several polling stations, and congratulated him on all HNEC’s efforts. The process of drafting a constitution was the main block in the new State that all Libyans should participate in building, Mitri said.
On Wednesday, Mitri met members from a number of General National Congress (GNC) committees, including the Defence Committee, to detail recent UNSMIL efforts to ease political tensions. These included a series of consultative meetings with various political forces, designed to help reach an agreement that served the democratic transition path and the interest of the Libyan people, he said.
He also pointed to the need to focus on dialogue rather than force and arms to settle political differences.
Mitri pointed out that UNSMIL’s primary goal was to offer support to the Libyan people, reminding those present of the Mission’s neutrality, its respect for national sovereignty and its policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of Libya. UNSMIL took a firm position on supporting the legitimacy of the elected institutions and the role of these institutions in ensuring the transfer of power to an elected body to prevent any political vacuum, Mitri said.
The Mission did not present any initiative or propose any time limit, he added. [/restrict]
