The UN Advisor on Libya, Stephanie Williams, said the Libyan people want to end a decade of violence and elect a government, showing “zero appetite” for further conflict despite a renewed political standoff.
Williams told AFP that deepening fractures, including a re-emergence of rival governments, can be “worked through”, adding that most Libyans really want to put an end to 11 years of chaos, division and war in a peaceful way by going to the ballot box.
Williams said that postponing December 24 elections was “a huge disappointment” to Libyans, especially after some 2.8 million citizens registered to vote amid a rare period of optimism following a landmark October 2020 ceasefire.
“There is a crisis over the executive, there is a political conflict over who sits in Tripoli,” Williams acknowledged in an interview with AFP on Saturday in Tunisia, adding that “this issue can be worked through.”
Williams said she had met thousands of people from across the country in recent months and they showed zero appetite to return to large-scale conflict in Libya, adding that there’s always going to be a degree of shallow legitimacy attached to any executive that is not directly elected by the people.
“The political maneuvering that has obstructed elections has also laid bare the massive disconnect between the political class and the body politic,” she added.
Speaking about her initiative for constitutional basis talks, which started last week in Tunisia in the presence of High Council of State’s representatives, Williams said her efforts are at a crucial inflection point for the House of Representatives (HoR) to come to the table with good intentions and in good faith to sort this constitutional basis for elections’ issue out.
“Step number two is to sit and actually negotiate seriously and in good faith, knowing that you’ve got three million people watching you,” Williams added, referring to Libyans who had collected voting cards, and saying that “this should be enough pressure.”
