Libya agrees on election road map

CAIRO — Members of Libya's High Council of State and House of Representatives agreed on Thursday on outlining a road map to hold the long-awaited presidential and legislative elections for the formation of a unified government.

The attendees agreed "to submit a road map proposal by members of both bodies as the basic path to completing the remaining requirements necessary to reach the elections", said a statement issued after the talk.

They agreed to work on expanding consensus and holding elections "under the laws agreed upon and issued by the House of Representatives", the statement said.

"The Libyans agreed to invite the House of Representatives to announce the opening of nominations and begin receiving recommendations and studying the profiles of candidates who are to head a competent, nationally-led government that will oversee running the country's affairs," it said.

They stressed the need to intensify and unify efforts to end the state of "political and institutional division", as well as the importance of "national reconciliation" and "societal peace" to achieve Libya's stability and build a modern civil state.

Libya has been locked in political and military chaos since the 2011 ouster and death of former leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The situation escalated in 2014, splitting power between two rival governments — a United Nations-backed one in the capital Tripoli, and another in the northeastern Tobruk city allied with the eastern-based Libyan National Army, or LNA, headed by Commander Khalifa Haftar.

The High Council of State is an advisory body for the internationally recognized Government of National Unity based in Tripoli, while the House of Representatives based in Tobruk is the parliament supported by the LNA.

The House of Representatives backs the Government of National Stability based in Sirte, a rival to the Government of National Unity.

Due to political differences between rival factions, Libya failed to hold the long-awaited presidential and parliamentary elections that were scheduled for December 2021.

Xinhua