Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Libya Hannah Tetteh revealed on Tuesday that the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) will be forced to adopt a different approach if the House of Representatives and High Council of State fail to agree on the High National Elections Commission and the constitutional and legal framework governing the electoral process.
During her regular briefing to the UN Security Council, Tetteh warned that if this demand is not met, the mission will request the Council's support to adopt a different approach to advance the Libyan political transition to a meaningful outcome that addresses the challenges facing the country.
Tetteh stressed that “the first milestone of the roadmap is the reconstitution of the full Board of Commissioners of the High National Elections Commission (HNEC), through the joint appointment by the House of Representatives (HoR) and the High Council of State (HCS) of vacant positions.”
However, she noted that differences have emerged on the overall approach, including whether to change all seven positions of the electoral commission or to fill the vacant posts in line with the mission’s recommendations reflecting international best practices.
“As of today, unfortunately the two institutions have yet to achieve this objective,” she lamented.
She warned that Libya cannot afford continued delays or disruptions in the completion of the roadmap.
Tetteh called again on all Libyan leaders to engage constructively in their efforts to ensure that the first steps in the roadmap are completed within the next month, to allow for the preparations towards elections.
She also strongly urged the representatives of the HoR and HCS to expedite their work and shoulder their responsibility in completing these two initial milestones of the roadmap.
“We plan on convening the Structured Dialogue in November both in plenary sessions and in four thematic dialogue groups: governance, economy, security and national reconciliation and human rights,” she revealed.
Moreover, Tetteh welcomed the resumption of the municipal electoral process in an additional 16 municipalities which had been suspended earlier in eastern and southern Libya, with polling scheduled for Saturday.
“Voter registration for 12 other municipalities, including Benghazi, Janzour, Sabha, Sirte and Tajoura, is expected to commence on the 20th of October. As I pointed out, this is indeed a very welcomed development,” she stated.
At the economic level, Tetteh said the Central Bank of Libya’s announcement of its discovery of 6.5 billion in 20 Libyan dinar notes (approximately $1.2 billion) not registered in the Central Bank branch in Benghazi, nor introduced through the Bank’s legal channels, is concerning for Libya’s financial stability.
“This brings the total illicit money found this year to 10 billion dinars (approximately $1.8 billion),” she revealed.
