UN envoy says Libya's stability critical to regional security

Abdoulaye Bathily, the UN secretary-general's special representative for Libya, briefs a Security Council meeting at the UN headquarters in New York, on Aug. 22, 2023. It is fundamental to restore Libya's stability to preserve regional security, the top UN envoy for the country said on Tuesday. (Loey Felipe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- It is fundamental to restore Libya's stability to preserve regional security, the top UN envoy for the country said on Tuesday.

Upholding Libya's stability is even more critical now in light of the latest events, including the recent clashes in Tripoli, as well as the regional turmoil in Sudan and Niger, said Abdoulaye Bathily, the UN secretary-general's special representative for Libya.

"Current events in Libya and the region demonstrate that interim arrangements are fraught with risks of violence and disintegration for countries," Bathily told a UN Security Council meeting.

Without an inclusive political agreement that paves the way for peaceful, inclusive and transparent elections across Libya, the situation will worsen and cause further suffering to the Libyan people, he noted.

"I therefore call on the political and moral responsibility of all leaders to close the open-ended interim arrangement, break the current impasse and stop frustrating the Libyans' legitimate aspiration for elections, peace and prosperity," he said.

Libya failed to hold general elections in December 2021 as previously scheduled, due to disagreements over election laws among the Libyan parties.

Ever since the fall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the country has struggled to make a democratic transition amid escalating violence and political division.

In his briefing to the Security Council, Bathily reiterated that all elections-related issues in Libya should be resolved through discussions and compromises between all relevant actors.

"Unilateral steps must be avoided at all costs if we are to advert further violent conflicts as experience has shown over the last ten years," he said. "The electoral landscape should be a level-playing field for all the candidates."

Libya needs more than ever to close the current page of institutional fragmentation. Citizens yearn for unified political, military, security, economic and social institutions to safeguard the territorial integrity and the national identity of the country, he said.

"In that regard, a unified government, agreed upon by the major players, is an imperative for leading the country to elections," said Bathily.