United States (US) Special Envoy, Richard Norland commended the United Nations (UN) envoy Abdoulaye Bathily’s briefing to the Security Council for identifying the key obstacles to defining a credible roadmap to parliamentary and presidential elections.
In a tweet by the US embassy in Libya, Richard reaffirmed US support for Bathily's efforts to bring Libyans together to overcome the obstacles he identified in the briefing.
Bathily said at the Security Council tha the laws approved by the 6+6 Committee faced some reactions, especially those of the High National Elections Commission, adding that upon studying the text of the laws, UNSMIL concluded that the politically contested issues are the eligibility criteria for candidates for the presidential election, the provision for a mandatory second round of the presidential election even if a candidate secures more than 50 percent of the votes required to win, the provision stipulating that if the first round of presidential elections fails, the parliamentary elections will not take place, and the provision requiring the establishment of a new interim government before elections can take place.
Several Libyan political parties expressed reservations about Bathily's briefing, which was expected to support the outcomes of the 6+6 committee or put forward the alternative plan that Bathily had mentioned in his previous briefing that meant to bypasses the House of Representatives and the High Council of State in the event that they fail to pass applicable electoral laws for elections to be held before the end of 2023.
Despite the failure of the two chambers to achieve applicable laws due to the reservations of many parties regarding the outcomes of the 6+6 committee, an the expiry of the date set by Bathily to present his plan, the UN envoy did not present any alternative plan or consider the 6+6 outcomes sufficient to hold free and fair elections.
