The UN Secretary General’s Advisor on Libya, Stephanie Williams, told BBC Arabic in an interview last Thursday that she had received a positive response from the Speaker of the House of Representatives (HoR), Aqila Saleh, welcoming the initiative of the UN.
Williams said that the situation now is only a matter of bringing the HoR and High Council of State (HCS) together, and then launching negotiations, expressing her optimism that the conditions will allow for an actual meeting of the HoR and HCS.
Williams added that the UN initiative did not come from Mars but from the 12th constitutional amendment, which set in the first stage the formation of a committee of 24 members. She reiterated that the move didn’t go through because it was supposed to be formed within two weeks of approving the constitutional amendment by the HoR.
“We do not have to go back to square one. We can build on the consensus that was achieved in last January and February. We resorted to another clause in the constitutional amendment, which specifically required the combination of the two chambers to set a constitutional basis for elections.” Williams explained.
Regarding the possibility of holding elections in 2022, Williams said that setting a date for holding elections in Libya is a decision to be taken by the Libyan authorities and people, stressing that the sooner the HoR and the HCS reach consensus on the constitutional basis, the more realistic the hope of reaching the election stage is.
Touching upon the presence of two governments headed by Abdul Hamid Dbeibah and Fathi Bashagha, Williams said the UN had not taken and would not take a position on recognizing one government or another. She stressed that the UN is in contact with both sides and that the most important message the UN sends is that all parties need to maintain calm on the ground in Libya: a message that she said “was well received.”
Source: BBC Arabic
