US amb., Libyan parl't speaker discuss restoring momentum toward elections

CAIRO - 10 April 2022: US Ambassador Richard Norland and Libyan House of Representatives Speaker Saleh discussed the current political situation and prospects for restoring momentum toward elections.

In a statements published by its official account on Facebook, the US Embassy in Libya added that the ambassador said: "We are working with key actors on all sides to maintain stability, beginning with efforts to ensure that Libya’s vast oil wealth is not used for partisan political purposes, but rather goes to meet the most critical needs of the people. We are supporting efforts by leaders including Saleh to agree on a Libyan-led mechanism for facilitating and monitoring such expenditures.”

“As the impasse in the executive unfolds, we wish to make clear that for the US the most relevant issue at this time is the need for sufficient political consensus, acceptability, and credibility among a critical mass of the Libyan people across the entire country in order to lead the nation to elections. With the end of the LPDF preparatory phase for a comprehensive solution approaching in June, it is more important than ever to organize elections which can move Libya beyond an endless cycle of transitional governments.”

“I urged the Speaker to continue lending all necessary support to establish a constitutional and legal basis for organizing elections as soon as possible in conjunction with the UN-facilitated process,” the ambassador further said.