Abdoulaye Bathily, the leader of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), has warned that for credible national elections to be held, Libya’s political stakeholders must form a unified government. With the absence of a political agreement on this unification, he cautioned, Libya’s unity could falter, risking further disintegration.
In a post-NATO-backed revolt in 2011, Libya fell into chaos with various militias controlling different regions. Notably, due to a discord over major candidates’ eligibility, the country’s intended election scheduled for December 24, 2021, was cancelled. Bathily communicated in mid-June of 2023 that the electoral reform proposals from Libya’s High Council of State and House of Representatives failed to settle contentious issues.
As such, Bathily has urged Libyan authorities to lift the ban on the High National Elections Commission’s activities, to enable its preparedness for local elections. He has encouraged political stakeholders to mediate the areas of contention that obstructed the 2021 elections via a political agreement. Moreover, Bathily implored every political actor to contribute their efforts toward this compromise, without any preconditions.
The aim of UNSMIL, Bathily clarified, is to restore stability to Libya by aiding its political actors in arriving at a peaceful resolution. He further added that the UN is receptive to ideas that could lead to a nonviolent, inclusive settlement involving Libya’s political stakeholder groups. Simultaneously, the international community’s members were asked by Bathily to apply pressure on the country’s political parties to work in unity towards peace. He stated:
“This Council and the international community have a critical role to play to press the Libyan parties to engage constructively in this process. Alignment and support from regional partners are particularly important. I therefore reiterate my call for a unified and coordinated approach by all members of the international community. Parallel initiatives can only be useful if they support the UN efforts, lest they be used by Libyan actors as a means to perpetuate the status quo.”
Fear over the influence of Libya’s armed groups on the nation’s politics and security was also expressed by Robert Wood, the US Alternative Representative for Special Political Affairs in the UN. Wood urged Libya to take initiatives toward military reunification to potentially reduce crime in the south, secure Libya’s borders, and prevent regional turmoil from spilling over.
In an earlier situation dated August 15, 2023, the UNSMIL called for violence to end immediately between the militarily potent 444 Brigade and the Special Deterrence Force in Tripoli, Libya. The conflict was ignited when a commander of the 444 Brigade was apprehended by the Special Deterrence Force, as the UNSMIL reported.