UN Envoy Abdoulaye Bathily Calls for Libyan Agreement on Elections by Mid-June
UN envoy Abdoulaye Bathily has called on the two warring factions in Libya to come to an agreement by mid-June on the organization of presidential and legislative elections. Speaking from Tripoli on March 11, Bathily offered a timetable for the elections and stated that it could be possible to organize them by the end of the year if the deadline is met. Bathily also defended himself against accusations of interference, stating that the proposed roadmap was not a foreign-imposed solution and did not depend on him.
The UN initiative, supported by the West, has divided Libya, with the Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah supporting it, while Marshal Haftar, the leader of the Libyan eastern camp, and Russia criticized it. However, the biggest obstacle to the organization of the elections is the opposition of the Tripoli camp to the candidacy of Khalifa Haftar, who holds American and Libyan citizenships.
Bathily had earlier drawn the ire of Libyan political actors after pointing out their inability to agree on an electoral framework for over a year. His call for a deadline has renewed hope for a democratic transition in Libya, which has been torn apart by civil war and foreign intervention since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The successful organization of the elections could pave the way for a new government to unite the fractured country and set it on a path to stability and development.