Libya prepares for UN team evaluation of election needs amidst ongoing instability in electoral laws

The Libya Government of National Unity has announced that the United Nations is preparing to send a team to assess the country’s needs for holding elections. Libya’s representative to the UN, Taher al-Sunni, met with the UN’s election support management team to discuss the international organization’s readiness to send a team to assist the country.

The meeting took place in New York and was attended by officials from the Department of Political Affairs and Peacekeeping. They discussed technical and logistical matters related to securing the elections in cooperation with the High National Elections Commission (HNEC) and the concerned Libyan institutions, according to a government statement.

The UN mission hopes to hold elections by the end of this year despite the ongoing instability of electoral laws. To address this issue, the UN envoy, Abdoulaye Bathily, has proposed the possibility of the mission providing support to the “6+6” parliamentary committee, which is responsible for finalizing these laws. Bathily also emphasized the need to develop a roadmap for the elections before the end of June as part of his initiative to conduct parliamentary and presidential polls.

“Ahead of the UN needs assessment mission to Libya , we had a productive meeting with the Department of Electoral Assistance UNDPPA, team, Libya’s representative to the UN, Taher al-Sunni, tweeted.

The meeting discussed “the support needed for Libya in preparation of the upcoming elections. We reiterated the importance of UN role to coordinate with int/regional organizations and provide technical/logistical support to relevant institutions in parallel with the finalization of constitutional framework & electoral laws, in order to assure a fair, transparentm and credible elections,” he added.