UN's envoy to Libya urges parties to adopt consultative, inclusive approach to foster consensus
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E-mail Xinhua, July 13, 2023
TRIPOLI, July 13 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations' (UN) envoy to Libya on Wednesday urged the Libyan parties to adopt a consultative and inclusive approach in order to foster consensus.
"I urge all political and security actors in Libya to adopt a similar method, fostering consensus and paving the way for inclusive national elections," Abdoulaye Bathily, special representative of the UN secretary-general for Libya, tweeted after meeting here with Mohamed al-Menfi, president of the Presidency Council of Libya.
Bathily also met with Khaled al-Meshri, head of Libya's High Council of State, on Wednesday in Tripoli, where Bathily "raised the critical importance of addressing the pitfalls in the proposed electoral laws to ensure they are implementable."
During this meeting, Bathily emphasized that any roadmap should be consensual and must not become a new disguise for postponing the holding of elections.
"We agreed that it is time for all relevant Libyan institutions and key stakeholders to come together and engage constructively in reaching a compromise on all contested political issues. It is imperative to secure the essential buy-in from all actors," Bathily said.
On Tuesday, Bathily met with Khalifa Haftar, commander of the eastern-based army, in the eastern city of Benghazi. The two agreed on the importance of addressing the contentious issues in the draft electoral laws.
"We also emphasized the importance of the buy-in from all relevant Libyan institutions and key stakeholders to reach a political settlement for successful and inclusive elections in keeping with the aspiration of the Libyan people," Bathily said.
Libya failed to hold general elections in December 2021 as previously scheduled due to disagreements over election laws among the Libyan parties. In January, Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Hamed Dbeibah said his government was ready to hold general elections in 2023.
Ever since Muammar Gaddafi's government was toppled in 2011, Libya has been mired in escalating violence and political division. Enditem
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