US urges Libyan parliament speaker to support elections legal framework

U.S. Special Envoy and Ambassador to Libya, Richard Norland, has urged Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aguila Saleh, to “continue lending all necessary support to establish a constitutional and legal basis for organizing elections as soon as possible,” according to a statement by the U.S. Embassy in Libya.

Norland spoke on the phone with Saleh on Friday to discuss the current political situation and prospects for restoring momentum toward elections, the embassy said.

“We are supporting efforts by leaders including HoR Speaker Saleh to agree on a Libyan-led mechanism for facilitating and monitoring such expenditures,” Norland was quoted as saying by the embassy.

“As the impasse in the executive unfolds, we wish to make clear that for the U.S. the most relevant issue at this time is the need for sufficient political consensus, acceptability, and credibility among a critical mass of the Libyan people across the entire country in order to lead the nation to elections.”

“With the end of the LPDF preparatory phase for a comprehensive solution approaching in June, it is more important than ever to organize elections which can move Libya beyond an endless cycle of transitional governments,” said the American diplomat.

“I urged the Speaker to continue lending all necessary support to establish a constitutional and legal basis for organizing elections as soon as possible in conjunction with the UN-facilitated process,” he concluded.