Libya has been urged by western powers to quickly reschedule the delayed presidential elections that were scheduled to take place on Friday.
Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the US said they would continue to recognise Libya's interim government after its presidential election was delayed, but called for the new polling date to be set as soon as possible.
“We call on the relevant Libyan authorities to respect the aspirations of the Libyan people for prompt elections by swiftly determining a final date for the polling and issuing the final list of presidential candidates without delay,” the five nations said in a joint statement.
The vote was intended to mark a fresh start for the country.
Political wrangling over the legal framework governing the vote, a surge in militia fighting, polarising candidates and years-long divisions between Libyans have complicated the process.
The fate of the interim Government of National Unity, which was installed in March as part of a UN-backed peace process, has become a major source of disagreement in the fallout over the collapse of the election.
Authorities overseeing the election said earlier this week that the Friday vote would be “impossible”, ending weeks of speculation over a delay.
The chairman of the parliamentary committee overseeing the vote wrote to the assembly's speaker, saying that “after consulting the technical, judicial and security reports, we inform you of the impossibility of holding the elections on the date of December 24, 2021".
It did not propose an alternative date, which was set last year during UN-led peace talks in Tunis. UN special envoy Jan Kubis, however, resigned just weeks before the ballot with the election intended to go hand-in-hand with parliamentary polls.
Libya's parliament is to meet on Monday to debate a new timeline for elections.
The country has seen a year of relative calm since the October 2020 ceasefire though rival militias were seen roaming the streets of the capital on Wednesday.
About 2.5 million people – a third of the population – were due to choose Libya’s first elected president on December 24.
Since Nato’s intervention to remove Muammar Qaddafi in 2011, Libya has been the theatre of international and regional feuds, hosting foreign personnel aligned with the clashing governments in the east and west.
With a spectre of renewed conflict already looming, militias have started to flex their muscles, breaching a UN-brokered ceasefire that began in October last year.
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Chatham House Rule
A mark of Chatham House’s influence 100 years on since its founding, was Moscow’s formal declaration last month that it was an “undesirable
organisation”.
The depth of knowledge and academics that it drew on
following the Ukraine invasion had broadcast Mr Putin’s chicanery.
The institute is more used to accommodating world leaders,
with Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher among those helping it provide
authoritative commentary on world events.
Chatham House was formally founded as the Royal Institute of
International Affairs following the peace conferences of World War One. Its
founder, Lionel Curtis, wanted a more scientific examination of international affairs
with a transparent exchange of information and ideas.
That arena of debate and analysis was enhanced by the “Chatham
House Rule” states that the contents of any meeting can be discussed outside Chatham
House but no mention can be made identifying individuals who commented.
This has enabled some candid exchanges on difficult subjects
allowing a greater degree of free speech from high-ranking figures.
These meetings are highly valued, so much so that
ambassadors reported them in secret diplomatic cables that – when they were
revealed in the Wikileaks reporting – were thus found to have broken the rule. However,
most speeches are held on the record.
Its research and debate has offered fresh ideas to
policymakers enabling them to more coherently address troubling issues from climate
change to health and food security.
