By Sami Zaptia.
London, 31 March 2021:
Head of UNSMIL Jan Kubis met yesterday with head of the House of Representatives (HoR) Ageela Saleh in Gubba. Saleh expressed the HoRs’ willingness to work on finding the necessary constitutional and legal framework for holding elections on 24 December 2021.
Kubis congratulated Saleh on his leadership, which was illustrated in re-uniting the HoR and resulted in granting the vote of confidence for the new unified government, and renewed the UN commitment to provide all necessary support to HNEC and relevant Libyan authorities to organize national elections on 24 December 2021.
HNEC
Yesterday, Special Envoy Jan Kubis accompanied by Assistant Secretary-General (ASG), Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Libya Georgette Gagnon, met with the Chairman of the Board of the High National Elections Commission (HNEC), Emad Al-Sayah in Tripoli. Al-Sayeh briefed them on the ongoing HNEC’s technical and logistical preparations to implement the national elections.
24 December elections on time
They stressed the importance of achieving timely constitutional and legal basis for elections. Special Envoy Kubis renewed the commitment of the United Nations and its international partners to continue to support the HNEC, especially at this critical stage of the history of Libya, in order to fulfil the overwhelming demand by the Libyan people to hold the national elections on 24 December 2021.
Supreme Judicial Council
Also yesterday, Kubis met with Judge Mohamed Al-Gamoudi Alhafi, Head of the Supreme Judicial Council, along with his deputies and council members. They discussed ways to strengthen the Libyan-UN cooperation to support the judicial sector in the country. Kubis expressed his admiration for the instrumental unifying role the judicial authority played during the past period while preserving its independence and its impartiality.
Interior Minister
Kubis congratulated the Minister of Interior Khaled Mazen on his appointment, during a meeting yesterday in Tripoli, in which they discussed the security situation in Libya; unification of institutions ;ways to advance the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, including the opening of the coastal road and support the efforts of the 5+5 Joint Military Commission. The meeting, which was attended by ASG/UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator Georgette Gagnon, also touched upon the unification of security institutions across the country, protection of migrants, the security preparation for the holding of national elections, and the UN support to the ministry’s efforts, including in training and capacity building.
