UN, Germany agree on putting Libya back on path to national elections

CAIRO - 24 April 2022: Stephanie Williams, the UN Advisor on Libya, met in Berlin with Germany’s Minister of State Tobias Lindner and State Secretary Andreas Michaelis to brief them on the current situation in Libya, including the outcomes of the recent consultations held in Cairo between Libya’s House of Representatives and High Council of State.

They agreed on “the need to put Libya back on the path to national elections within a solid constitutional framework and a firm time frame,” according to a tweet by Williams.

They also stressed “the importance of maintaining absolute calm on the ground, and working on all the Berlin tracks, including the security, economic, and international humanitarian law and human rights tracks”.

The Libyan Constitutional Committee, comprising members of the House of Representatives and the High Council of State, wrapped up its meeting on April 18, in Cairo under the sponsorship of the UN.

In statements upon issuing the final statement of the committee meeting, Williams described consultations held over a week of meetings as "conciliatory", adding that a number of issues pertaining to the committee's organizing statute were addressed.

The UN envoy said an agreement has been reached to resume consultations after the vacation of Eid Al Fitr.

The envoy added the committee members held a number of in-camera sessions facilitated by the UN over the past few days, adding that a team of technical experts have presented clarifications on a set of constitutional issues drawing on the constitutional expertise of a number of countries in the region and the world.

She said the UN is seeking to reach consensus among the two Libyan houses before the end of the current year with the aim of activating the Libyan elections track and meeting the aspirations of the Libyan people through holding elections based on a true constitutional base and within a specific timeframe.

The UN official voiced appreciation for the Egyptian government for hosting this round of the committee meetings and praised Cairo backing for the UN efforts to achieve security and stability in Libya.