UN: Libya election delay must not undermine stability

The United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Adviser for Libya, Stephanie Williams, yesterday called on the concerned parties not to allow the current challenges in Libya’s electoral process to undermine the stability and progress which has been achieved over the past 15 months.

Williams called on the concerned institutions to honour and support the will of the 2.8 million Libyans who registered to vote.

“To contribute to a solution of Libya’s political crisis and to durable stability, presidential and parliamentary elections must take place in the appropriate conditions, on a level playing field among all candidates to peacefully end the political transition and transfer power to democratically elected institutions,” she said.

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She also offered “to work with the concerned Libyan institutions and the broad range of stakeholders to address these challenges through good offices and mediation.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Libya’s High National Elections Commission announced that despite its technical preparedness, it was unable to meet the 24 December date set by the political roadmap for national elections.

The commission said it had requested that the House of Representatives set another date for the first round of the Presidential election within a period of 30 days in accordance with the law, while taking the necessary measures to address the difficulties facing the completion of the electoral process.

Could Libya really have democratic and transparent elections? – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/Middle East Monitor]