U.N. says voter registration is not enough to guarantee Libyan elections

The United Nations envoy to Libya Ghassan Salamé said Wednesday that a number of conditions still need to be met before elections can be held in the country.

In September 2017, Salamé presented the UN Security Council with a plan of action to end the chaos in the country, including parliamentary and presidential elections.

“Not all the conditions for the holding of elections have been met today,’‘ said Salamé during a press conference in Tripoli.

“We have so far achieved only one: the beginning of voter registration,” he said.

In addition to a referendum on a draft constitution, the Libyans must also pass an electoral law and provide the necessary security conditions for elections, he said.

“But the most important thing is to get all parties to accept the results of the elections before they are even held,” he added, saying he hoped the elections would be held before the end of 2018.

Asked about a possible population disarmament programme in Libya, Salamé said that such a project represents “a major challenge”, estimating that 20 million pieces of arms are held by the six million Libyans.

A disarmament plan “requires the foundation of a legitimate state recognized by all,“he said.

According to Salamé, in addition to the arsenal inherited from the regime of Muammar Gaddafi, weapons continue to enter Libya via porous borders.

Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, Libya has remained trapped in a protracted transitional crisis, the victim of constant rivalry between militias and political leaders, despite the signing of a UN-sponsored political agreement two years ago.

Two governments are currently fighting over power in Libya: a government recognized by the international community and based in Tripoli, and an authority exercising its power in the east with the support of Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

AFP