NEW YORK CITY: Successful elections in Libya will require not only the establishment of a proper legal framework within which they can take place, but also a political agreement that ensures buy-in to the process from all stakeholders, the UN warned on Monday. Presidential and parliamentary elections were supposed to be held in December 2021 but did not take place, amid persistent differences of opinion among political factions on a number of key issues, including who should be allowed to stand. It also calls for the establishment of an interim, unified government tasked with organizing and conducting the elections. “The eligibility criteria for presidential elections, the linkage between presidential and parliamentary elections, and the issue of forming a new unified government are highly contentious and require, first and foremost, a political agreement among the major stakeholders and key constituencies across the Libyan political spectrum,” said Bathily. Short of such an agreement, the laws will not only remain impossible to implement, he added, they could also trigger a fresh crisis.

Source: Libya Today June 19, 2023 22:33 UTC