By Sami Zaptia.
London, 13 September 2021:
Five states yesterday urged inclusive, free and fair Libyan parliamentary and presidential elections on 24 December 2021. The statement read:
‘‘We, the Embassies of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States in Libya, following his briefing to the UN Security Council on 10 September, 2021, join Special Envoy Jan Kubis in urging all Libyan actors to ensure inclusive, free and fair parliamentary and presidential elections on 24 December, 2021. Such elections, as determined in the Roadmap of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) in Tunis in November 2020, and asserted in UNSC Resolution 2570, are an essential step in further stabilizing and uniting Libya, and their results should be respected by all.
Steps have been announced by the House of Representatives towards this goal, as rules for the presidential election were made public by the Speaker on 8 September, 2021, and progress has been made by HNEC on the preparations for holding the national presidential and parliamentary elections. Together, these represent significant steps towards the holding of elections on 24 December 2021. Laws governing the elections are past due – all actors should recognize that now is the time to engage and finalize the electoral framework, taking into account all legitimate concerns of the Libyan people, in order to allow for both Parliamentary and Presidential elections to be held on 24 December, 2021.
In this regard, we welcome the actions by the GNU to facilitate the preparations for the holding of elections especially providing the adequate funding for HNEC and various security preparations.
We stand ready to support, at their request, the interim Libyan authorities in the organization of the elections, including through raising awareness among voters and educating the public regarding the fight against disinformation during the electoral campaign. We remain committed, also, to women’s full, equal and meaningful participation in Libyan elections, as voters, candidates and decision-makers in the political process.
We commend the Libyan parties for their readiness to turn the page, put behind them past conflicts and take serious steps towards the unification of Libyan institutions and ending the political transition.
We call for the full compliance of all actors with UNSC sanctions, including through national implementation measures against those who are found to be in breach of the UNSC arms embargo or the ceasefire, threaten the peace, stability or security of Libya or obstruct or undermine the successful completion of its political transition, including those undermining elections planned for in the LPDF Roadmap.’’
