Libya seems to be playing a slippery game with its democracy as it missed it December deadline to hold fair elections. But now, UN Special Advisor on Libya Stephanie Williams in Cairo, Egypt has said that she is pushing for a June election to happen.
The UN had brokered a map that earmarks developmental milestones in 2020. Under that, elections should have been done before ushering in 2022. But that did not happen. Still, in line, with the timelines set, Ms. Williams feels that it is still “very reasonable and possible” for the country’s 2.8 million voters to cast their ballots by June 2022.
What is heartwarming is to know that the population of a 2.8million voters have already registered to cast a vote. Sadly, Libya failed to hold its first-ever presidential elections on December 24 as scheduled, a major blow to international efforts to end a decade-long chaos in the oil-rich Mediterranean nation.
Recently, the United Nations’ Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in a report to the U.N. Security Council has said it’s critical that all Libyan parties “focus on the holding of free, fair, inclusive and credible presidential and parliamentary elections as soon as possible”. The will of the 2.8 million Libyans “must be respected”, he said, and Libyan authorities and institutions “must now work together to address the fundamental issues that have resulted in the postponement and create the political and security conditions necessary for holding the presidential and parliamentary elections without delay.”
There is a reason why elections are conducted in a transparent and fair manner. For Libya, it would mean giving credence to its institutions.
“All the institutions are suffering a crisis of legitimacy,” she said. “I don’t see any other exit for Libya other than a peaceful political process.” The country plunged into turmoil after the NATO-backed 2011 uprising and split into rival Governments — one in the east, backed by military commander Khalifa Haftar, and another, U.N.-supported administration in the capital of Tripoli, in the west. Each side is supported by a variety of militias and foreign powers.