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Bathily to Asharq Al-Awsat: We Support Any Agreement that Leads Libya to Recovery

Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Libya and Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya Abdoulaye Bathily. (UNSMIL)
Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Libya and Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya Abdoulaye Bathily. (UNSMIL)
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Bathily to Asharq Al-Awsat: We Support Any Agreement that Leads Libya to Recovery

Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Libya and Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya Abdoulaye Bathily. (UNSMIL)
Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Libya and Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya Abdoulaye Bathily. (UNSMIL)

Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Libya and Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya Abdoulaye Bathily stressed that his initiative to hold presidential and parliamentary elections in 2023 aims to “move the still political waters” and “ensure that everyone takes part in the electoral process.”

In an interview to Asharq Al-Awsat, the envoy underscored that he supports any consensus that leads Libya to the path of recovery.

He explained that his initiative aims to build on agreements that have so far been reached between the parliament and High Council of State on the elections. It also seeks to expand the circles of Libyan participation in the elections and reaching a solution to the current crisis.

These issues should not be left in the hands of the two legislative councils as they have taken enough time already without reaching tangible results, he added.

“Everyone will have a say in paving the way to the elections alongside the parliament and High Council of State,” he stressed. The envoy stated that his initiative encompasses large segments of Libyan society, such as effective political and security powers, parties, civil society groups and representatives of women and the youth.

The UN mission will not play a role in choosing who represents these segments, clarified Bathily.

Moreover, he said his initiative puts forward a flexible and non-traditional work mechanism known as shuttle diplomacy. He stressed that he will personally ensure that the approach is successful in order to help the Libyans reach national understandings over the most important issues needed to hold the elections.

The polls will primarily focus on electing a new leadership for the country, he went on to say. This demands that everyone be involved in the electoral process.

Asked if the decisions produced by his initiative will be binding to all parties, the envoy responded that the outcomes will be legitimate because they will enjoy national consensus and reflect everyone’s commitment to their political and moral responsibilities.

Asked if parliamentary elections alone will be held should the parties fail to agree on the presidential elections, the envoy said the UN supports any broad Libyan agreement that puts the country on the path of recovery, restores legitimacy to state institutions, and leads to sustainable peace and stability, development and reconstruction.

Resolving the current crises demands agreement on all pending disputes, he remarked.

Bathily revealed that he has so far sensed that the presidential and parliamentary elections will be held before the end of the year, citing the heavy turnout of citizens registering their names on voter lists and support from the international community.

Should the elections be successfully held, then they will restore the legitimacy of the country’s institutions, he stressed.

Furthermore, he explained that his initiative, in order to gain time, builds on the agreements reached between the parliament and High Council of State.

The envoy said he offered to provide technical and logistic support and necessary expertise to support the work of the 6+6 committee that is tasked with providing the legal foundation for the elections and drafting electoral laws.

His initiative also sheds light on the need to address issues that are a source of concern, such as agreement on the transparent management of national resources and ensuring that candidates run in a fair race.

On the factors that will ensure the success of the elections, Bathily underscored the importance of security. Candidates should be protected and free to move across Libya. They should be allowed to freely hold their electoral campaigns and meet with voters away from intimidation.

Similarly, the voters should be allowed to carry out their national duties in a secure environment away from fear and intimidation.

Another important element in ensuring the success of the elections is the candidates’ prior pledge that they would accept the results of the polls, added Bathily. They will have the right to appeal results through recognized legal methods.

Candidates must also pledge to avoid incitement and hate speech and steer clear of methods that would bring into question the integrity of the polls, he told Asharq Al-Awsat. Electoral platforms must prioritize a united Libya and respect of its sovereignty.

A transparent government mechanism to monitor the public expenditure is needed to ensure fair electoral competition, he went on to say. State resources must not be used for electoral purposes or to give favor to one candidate over another.

Moreover, in order to ensure fair competition, officials in office seeking to run in the polls must resign ahead of the elections.

These are all issues the Libyans must agree upon before a roadmap for the elections is put in place in June, said the envoy.

Ensuring that the elections are a success starts now and will carry on even after they are held, Bathily remarked.

Asked if the presence of foreign forces and mercenaries will be an obstacle in holding the elections, the envoy replied that their deployment is a problem that worries the Libyans, neighboring countries and entire international community.

The extent to which these forces are a threat depends on the Libyans themselves and how committed they are to the security agreements and desire to unify their state institutions, including the military and security forces, he continued.

The UN mission in Libya and several members of the international community are ready to help Libya in the withdrawal of fighters and mercenaries so that the country’s sovereignty can be restored, he added.

Bathily spoke of progress being made in the withdrawal, crediting the efforts to the joint military committee and cooperation from some concerned countries, such as Sudan, Niger and Chad.

Returning to the elections, the envoy noted that Libyan parties have a tendency to shirk their responsibilities and to obstruct the polls. They tend to blame others for the obstruction. This is not a constructive approach. The time for blaming others is over. Now is the time to meet the aspirations of the voters.

On the failure to hold the elections that were set for December 2021, the envoy said everyone was to blame, one way or another.

The delay of the polls suited the “de facto parties”, he noted. This is a fact that has not escaped the Libyans. The current situation only benefits a few people.

In order to avoid a repetition of what happened in 2021, the envoy explained that his initiative seeks to work in parallel with the 6+6 committee on all security, political and technical issues related to the elections.

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Interviews

Goldrich to Asharq Al-Awsat: No US Withdrawal from Syria

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
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Goldrich to Asharq Al-Awsat: No US Withdrawal from Syria

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich has told Asharq Al-Awsat that the US does not plan to withdraw its forces from Syria.

The US is committed to “the partnership that we have with the local forces that we work with,” he said.

Here is the full text of the interview.

Question: Mr. Goldrich, thank you so much for taking the time to sit with us today. I know you are leaving your post soon. How do you assess the accomplishments and challenges remaining?

Answer: Thank you very much for the chance to talk with you today. I've been in this position for three years, and so at the end of three years, I can see that there's a lot that we accomplished and a lot that we have left to do. But at the beginning of a time I was here, we had just completed a review of our Syria policy, and we saw that we needed to focus on reducing suffering for the people in Syria. We needed to reduce violence. We needed to hold the regime accountable for things that are done and most importantly, from the US perspective, we needed to keep ISIS from reemerging as a threat to our country and to other countries. At the same time, we also realized that there wouldn't be a solution to the crisis until there was a political process under resolution 2254, so in each of these areas, we've seen both progress and challenges, but of course, on ISIS, we have prevented the reemergence of the threat from northeast Syria, and we've helped deal with people that needed to be repatriated out of the prisons, and we dealt with displaced people in al-Hol to reduce the numbers there. We helped provide for stabilization in those parts of Syria.

Question: I want to talk a little bit about the ISIS situation now that the US troops are still there, do you envision a timeline where they will be withdrawn? Because there were some reports in the press that there is a plan from the Biden administration to withdraw.

Answer: Yeah. So right now, our focus is on the mission that we have there to keep ISIS from reemerging. So I know there have been reports, but I want to make clear that we remain committed to the role that we play in that part of Syria, to the partnership that we have with the local forces that we work with, and to the need to prevent that threat from reemerging.

Question: So you can assure people who are saying that you might withdraw, that you are remaining for the time being?

Answer: Yes, and that we remain committed to this mission which needs to continue to be pursued.

Question: You also mentioned the importance of humanitarian aid. The US has been leading on this. Are you satisfied with where you are today on the humanitarian front in Syria?

Answer: We remain committed to the role that we play to provide for humanitarian assistance in Syria. Of the money that was pledged in Brussels, we pledged $593 million just this past spring, and we overall, since the beginning of the conflict, have provided $18 billion both to help the Syrians who are inside of Syria and to help the refugees who are in surrounding countries. And so we remain committed to providing that assistance, and we remain keenly aware that 90% of Syrians are living in poverty right now, and that there's been suffering there. We're doing everything we can to reduce the suffering, but I think where we would really like to be is where there's a larger solution to the whole crisis, so Syrian people someday will be able to provide again for themselves and not need this assistance.

Question: And that's a perfect key to my next question. Solution in Syria. you are aware that the countries in the region are opening up to Assad again, and you also have the EU signaling overture to the Syrian regime and Assad. How do you deal with that?

Answer: For the United States, our policy continues to be that we will not normalize with the regime in Syria until there's been authentic and enduring progress on the goals of resolution 2254, until the human rights of the Syrian people are respected and until they have the civil and human rights that they deserve. We know other countries have engaged with the regime. When those engagements happen, we don't support them, but we remind the countries that are engaged that they should be using their engagements to push forward on the shared international goals under 2254, and that whatever it is that they're doing should be for the sake of improving the situation of the Syrian people.

Question: Let's say that all of the countries decided to talk to Assad, aren’t you worried that the US will be alienated in the process?

Answer: The US will remain true to our own principles and our own policies and our own laws, and the path for the regime in Syria to change its relationship with us is very clear, if they change the behaviors that led to the laws that we have and to the policies that we have, if those behaviors change and the circumstances inside of Syria change, then it's possible to have a different kind of relationship, but that's where it has to start.

Question: My last question to you before you leave, if you have to pick one thing that you need to do in Syria today, what is it that you would like to see happening today?

Answer: So there are a number of things, I think that will always be left and that there are things that we will try to do, to try to make them happen. We want to hold people accountable in Syria for things that have happened. So even today, we observed something called the International Day for victims of enforced disappearances, there are people that are missing, and we're trying to draw attention to the need to account for the missing people. So our step today was to sanction a number of officials who were responsible for enforced disappearances, but we also created something called the independent institution for missing persons, and that helps the families, in the non-political way, get information on what's happened. So I'd like to see some peace for the families of the missing people. I'd like to see the beginning of a political process, there hasn't been a meeting of the constitutional committee in two years, and I think that's because the regime has not been cooperating in political process steps. So we need to change that situation. And I would, of course, like it's important to see the continuation of the things that we were talking about, so keeping ISIS from reemerging and maintaining assistance as necessary in the humanitarian sphere. So all these things, some of them are ongoing, and some of them remain to be achieved. But the Syrian people deserve all aspects of our policy to be fulfilled and for them to be able to return to a normal life.