16 presidential candidates called in a statement on the United Nations, European Union, African Union and Arab League, in addition to relevant local and international organizations to exert efforts toward supporting elections by activating monitoring of the vote to ensure integrity and neutrality.
The statement said the candidates support the efforts of the High National Elections Commission (HNEC) that aim to hold elections on time, and object to smearing campaigns against the HNEC.
"We urge local actors to make elections a success and to start coordinating efforts to stress the need for holding presidential and parliamentary elections and accepting their results." The statement reads, calling on all presidential candidates to take part in upcoming meetings that support holding general elections and to hold a meeting, in a week's time, with the Head of HNEC and relevant officials to discuss latest election developments.
They rejected conflict of interests between the role of the government and the candidacy of its Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah to the presidential elections, saying it would lead to unequal opportunities and to the exhausting of state resources in his election campaign. They signed a charter that obliges all candidates of presidential elections to commit to election rules and results.
"The Government of National Unity's term ends on December 24, 2021 as per House of Representatives' confidence vote and UN Security Council's relevant resolutions, as well as the written promises made by the interim authority." The statement says, adding that the 16 candidates don't mind pushing elections' date as per technical requirements provided that 24 December remains included in the process of holding elections.
