The Advisory Committee of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) kicked off Wednesday the UN-sponsored meetings in Geneva, Switzerland.
The discussions will be held until January 16 with participants from different Libyan regions.
The UN mission said in its statement that the meeting of the advisory committee started with the national anthem, followed by the opening remarks of the Acting Special Representative of the Sec-Gen in Libya Stephanie Williams.
Williams indicated that the committee was formed to come up with recommendations about the formation of an interim, unified executive authority.
“Reaching a broad agreement among this Committee’s members to produce specific recommendations would ensure moving forward with presenting these recommendations to the United Nations Support Mission in Libya to implement.”
The representative reiterated that the election date set for December 24 is an unwavering achievement, stressing that “to return the sovereign decision to its rightful owners, is our top priority.”
The US Ambassador to Libya, Richard Norland called on the committee to seize the opportunity to reach an agreement on forming a new interim executive authority that would set the stage for national elections later this year.
Norland indicated that the committee has the mandate to restore Libya's sovereignty and respond to the Libyan people's call for change, urging them to move while there's still a chance, "as the opportunity now created in Libya cannot be maintained indefinitely."
German Ambassador to Libya Oliver Owcza stated that the political process in Libya enters a critical phase, encouraging delegates and all political stakeholders to make the best use of this facilitated format and pave the way towards a unified executive authority.
For his part, UK Ambassador Nicholas Hopton described the meeting of the advisory committee as “an opportunity to put the needs of all Libyans first and agree a proposal to take Libya forward to free and fair elections this year.”
Meanwhile, UN Sec-Gen Antonio Guterres is considering nominating the Slovak diplomat, Jan Kubis, to succeed Ghassan Salame as UNSMIL head.
Kubis previously chaired the United Nations missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The United Nations officially requested the Arab League and the African and European Union to nominate experts to monitor the ceasefire, especially in Sirte and al-Jufra.
This comes in preparation for the deployment of international observers to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire between the forces of the Government of National Accord (GNA) and the Libyan National Army (LNA).
