Panafrican News Agency

UN Security Council to discuss UN SG's report on Libya on Tuesday

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Libya will be back on the agenda of the UN Security Council this January with the presentation on Tuesday of the report of UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, on the North African country.

The Libyan High National Electoral Commission postponed the presidential election scheduled for 24 December 2021 due to political and judicial considerations, plunging the country into a new deadlock as Libyans were counting on these electoral polls to end the crisis.

The Chairman of the Governing Council of the High National Electoral Commission, Imad Al-Sayeh, said the electoral process had stopped at the stage of judicial appeals, and the commission was not in a position to announce the final list of candidates for the election.

In a briefing to the Libyan Parliament, Al-Sayeh added that they have proposed 24 January as an alternative date for the elections, provided that the circumstances of "force majeure" that halted the vote were eliminated.

The force majeure, he said, were contradictory judicial decisions, decisions issued outside the legal deadline and threats against the commission in case it published the final list of candidates with specific names.

To address this situation, Parliament has formed a committee to develop a roadmap for the next stage leading to the organisation of parliamentary and presidential elections.

Consultations are being carried out by this committee with the various influential parties and institutions in order to involve everyone in the development of a consensual roadmap based on a constitutional process.

The UN Security Council is expected to focus on three main issues: ways to help the country hold elections at an early date, discussing the vote on the decision to renew the mandate of the UN Support Mission (UNSMIL), and sanctions on Libya.

The UN executive body's discussions will address the fate of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), whose mandate was extended last September until the end of January, at which point there will be another option should the uncertainty over the electoral process dissipate, by extending it for a short period until at least after the presidential election.

Negotiations on the renewal of the UN mission's mandate began last September and were opposed by Moscow, which stated that it did not support the British draft resolution.

Russia has expressed concern about the timing, implementation of the restructuring and the scope of the UN Support Mission in Libya's mandate.

This situation reflects the persistence of polarisation between countries and divisions between the major powers within the UN Council with regard to Libya.

Thus, it was with difficulty that negotiations led to the extension of UNSMIL's mandate until 31 January, after the UK proposed to transfer the Special Envoy of the UN Support Mission from Geneva to Tripoli and to transform this post into a Special Representative, with the support of the two Deputy Special Representatives.

At the end of November the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy and head of the UNSMIL, Jan Kubis, surprisingly resigned less than a month before the 24 December elections.

This revealed the existence of a deadlock in the Libyan political process with the continuation of disagreements between the Libyan parties on electoral laws and the participation of divisive candidates in the presidential election such as Seif Al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Mr Kubis cited personal reasons for his decision, which was accepted by the UN Secretary-General.

The UN Secretary General has appointed the American diplomat and former acting Special Envoy, Stephanie Williams, as his Special Adviser on Libya.

She is currently leading the UN's mediation efforts in collaboration with the UN Support Mission with the various protagonists in Libya and the countries of the region to bring the political process to a successful conclusion.

Also on the agenda of the Security Council is the briefing to be given by the Chairman of the Libya Sanctions Committee.

The UN Sanctions Committee on Libya recently received the interim report of its team of experts, noting that despite the decrease in violations of the arms embargo imposed on Libya compared to the last year, the embargo remained ineffective and the existing stockpiles of arms and ammunition in the country are huge.

-0- PANA BY/IS/BBA/MA 10Jan2022