A Libyan committee commenced its second meeting, on Tuesday, to discuss the constitutional arrangements necessary to hold elections on 24 December 2021.
The meeting was held under the sponsorship of the United Nations (UN) in the Egyptian Red Sea city of Hurghada. Two delegations from Libya’s House of Representatives and the High Council of State are participating, each comprising 10 members, the UN said.
In his opening remarks, the head of Egypt’s national committee on Libyan affairs, called on the Libyan rivals to set aside their differences in order to end the long-time crisis.
He praised the stances taken by the Libyan parties and their readiness to end the crisis. He urged them to take the advantage of this historic chance to reach a unified constitutional base on which to hold national elections as scheduled.
In the meantime, Acting UN Libya envoy Stephanie Williams has praised Egyptian efforts in resolving the Libyan crisis and restoring stability to the war-torn country.
She emphasised, in her opening remarks via video call, the need to agree on the constitutional arrangements needed to hold the elections as scheduled.
“If you fail to reach an agreement, this will have very negative repercussions on the other tracks including the security and economic situation,” she said, “Therefore, you have a great responsibility to reach a consensus on the constitutional arrangements.”
The UN said, “[It] looks forward to the outcome of the committee’s deliberations by the 60-day deadline.”
For elections to be held, a new and reformed Presidency Council must be formed, along with an effective and unified Government of National Unity (GNA). These requirements have been outlined in the conclusion of the Berlin Conference, and adopted by UN Security Council Resolution No. 2510 (2020), according to the UN.
Egypt has hosted several meetings in Cairo and Hurghada over the past few months, as part of its efforts to help in resolving the Libyan crisis.
In October 2020, a permanent and complete ceasefire agreement was signed by the rival Libyan parties, following UN-facilitated talks in Geneva. The ceasefire agreement has paved the way for the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) that was launched from Tunisia in November.
