Hassan Al-Werfalli (Benghazi)
Yesterday, the United States announced its agreement with the UN envoy to Libya, Abdullah Batili, on “the need to help make 2023 a year of free and fair Libyan elections.”
This came in a statement by the US State Department that touched on the international meeting that took place yesterday, in New York, on Libya. “The United States hosted the United Nations envoy to Libya, Abdullah Batili, and high-ranking officials from Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Qatar, Turkey, and Britain,” the statement said. The statement confirmed that “Batelli briefed the participants on the latest developments regarding his consultations with leaders and institutions in Libya, with the aim of strengthening a consensus leading to holding elections in 2023.” The participants in the meeting learned about “the achievements made by the Libyan Parliament and the High Council of State in the negotiations facilitated by Egypt regarding the constitutional basis for the elections,” according to the statement.
The statement indicated that the participants also consulted about the next steps that should be taken to complete the preparation for the elections.
US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman indicated, in her speech to the participants in the meeting, that “Washington and Batelli agreed on the need to provide assistance for free and fair Libyan elections in 2023,” according to the same source.
Libya is experiencing a political crisis, represented in a conflict between a government appointed by the House of Representatives headed by Fathi Bashagha, and the internationally recognized government of Abdul Hamid al-Dabaiba, who refuses to surrender except to a government assigned by a new elected parliament.
According to an international initiative, the House of Representatives and the Supreme Council of the State have been negotiating for about a year to agree on a “constitutional rule” that will lead the country to elections that will end the political crisis that has been going on for years, but differences over the conditions for running for the presidency are blocking this path.
In Cairo, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the Libyan Parliament’s approval of the 13th Constitutional Declaration amendment, describing it as “an important step in fulfilling the necessary frameworks for holding presidential and parliamentary elections simultaneously as soon as possible, under the supervision of a neutral executive authority that upholds the supreme interests of Libya.” The Egyptian Foreign Ministry confirmed its aspiration for the Libyan House of Representatives and the State Council to complete their efforts in terms of preparing election laws, leading to their approval by the Libyan Parliament.
And last Thursday, the Libyan House of Representatives published the 13th Amendment of the Constitutional Declaration after the Supreme Council of State failed to vote on its provisions as a result of the protests and the siege that the Council’s headquarters in Tripoli has been subjected to for days.
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