France: Libya factions agree to hold elections this year

Libyan parties who met in the French capital Paris under the auspices of the United Nations agreed yesterday to hold legislative and presidential elections on 10 December.

According to the Libyan Alwasat newspaper, the parties agreed to set up a timetable for the adoption of the constitution, the organisation of presidential and parliamentary elections, the commitment of all parties to the results of the elections and the issuance and adoption of the electoral law by the Parliament.

They also agreed to the cooperation of the security forces to ensure the integrity of the electoral process and accountability of any group which tries to interrupt the voting process, ending the division, and the gradual abolition of parallel governments.

France hosted the International Conference on Libya under the auspices of the UN yesterday. It was attended by the President of the proposed Presidential Council, Fayez Al-Sarraj, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aqila Salih, the head of the High Council of State of the Skhirat Agreement, Khaled Al-Mishri, and military commander and head of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Khalifa Haftar. Representatives of 20 countries were also in attendance.

READ: Libyan rivals set for crunch Paris talks to break political deadlock