Libyan forces were not unanimous in their response to the UN initiative to revive the country’s stalled political process, announced on 21 August. Key political institutions, including the Presidential Council, the Government of National Unity, the High Council of State in Tripoli, the House of Representatives and its designated government, as well as foreign powers such as the Arab League, the European Union, and the African Union, have welcomed the initiative, though their interpretations of its core objectives vary.
The initiative was presented to the UN Security Council by Hannah Tetteh, special representative of the secretary general and head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), seeking to rally diplomatic backing towards a comprehensive resolution of the Libyan crisis. Meanwhile, foreign powers involved in the Libyan conflict have shown little enthusiasm for altering the status quo.
Tetteh’s roadmap is built on three pillars: establishing a technically sound and politically viable electoral framework to enable presidential and legislative elections; unifying institutions under a new national government; and launching a structured dialogue that ensures broad Libyan participation to create a favourable environment for elections, develop a shared vision, and address the root causes of conflict.
According to Tetteh, the plan will be implemented gradually as a single package, following key milestones designed to pave the way to national elections within 12 to 18 months.
During this period, the UN mission will work with Libyan forces to bolster the High National Elections Commission by reconstituting its board to fill vacant positions and ensuring its financial independence. At the same time, the legal and constitutional frameworks for presidential and legislative elections will be amended to resolve issues that hindered the electoral process of 2021.
Tetteh estimated that those two steps could be completed within two months, provided there is sufficient political will among the Libyan factions. She stressed the importance of establishing a new unified government capable of creating an environment conducive to credible elections while managing essential governance tasks.
This will be accompanied by measures to enhance the operational readiness of the Elections Commission and to tackle challenges related to security, governance, economic management, and reconciliation. These steps will also allow for monitoring the progress of key institutions, including the Elections Commission and security bodies.
In parallel, UNSMIL will organise a structured dialogue to bring together not only political and security forces but also a wide spectrum of Libyan society, including civil society organisations, academic figures, cultural groups, women, youth, persons with disabilities, and government representatives.
Tetteh said the structured dialogue will seek practical solutions to governance challenges and obstacles that could undermine the electoral process, while laying the groundwork for a national vision to guide Libya towards long-term stability. The dialogue is expected to generate recommendations for immediate political changes in the security sector, economic reforms, and reconciliation, as well as contribute to the constitutional process on governance issues that Libyans have long identified as critical and overdue.
UNSMIL also plans to build safeguards into the roadmap to provide alternatives should the parties involved stall progress. It will be able to take all necessary measures, with Security Council backing, to hold accountable those obstructing the political process and ensure that elections can move forward.
The mission’s plan draws on proposals prepared by the Advisory Committee, reflecting demands previously put forward by Libyan factions. Chief among those is the formation of a unified government to oversee elections: an issue that remains a point of contention between the main political forces in Tripoli and Benghazi.
Before unveiling the UN plan, the High National Elections Commission (HNEC) held the second round of municipal council elections in 26 out of a total of 52 municipalities. Security and political conditions disrupted the process as electoral administration offices were targeted in several western regions, while authorities in the east blocked elections from being held in areas under their control in the east and south.
A few days before the municipal elections, UNSMIL released the preliminary results of two months of consultations with Libyan parties and actors, including political leaders, civil society activists, and cultural groups, in an attempt to resolve the deadlock that has persisted since 2021.
Over the course of two months, UNSMIL surveyed more than 22,500 people nationwide on four proposals put forward by the Advisory Committee to relaunch the political process. The options included: holding simultaneous presidential and legislative elections; holding only parliamentary elections; drafting a constitution before elections; or forming a new Constituent Assembly to replace the current political institutions.
According to the survey, 42 per cent of participants favoured holding simultaneous presidential and legislative elections as soon as possible to break the political stalemate. Another 23 per cent supported dissolving existing political institutions and convening a dialogue forum to appoint a new, 60-member Constituent Assembly tasked with drafting a temporary constitutional declaration and electoral laws, while 17 per cent backed the drafting of a constitution before holding elections.
The UN’s new plan sought to reconcile those views by accommodating the demands of all sides. It preserved the primary roles of the House of Representatives and the High Council of State, giving them a final opportunity to agree on the constitutional and legal framework for elections and key sovereign positions, most notably the board of the HNEC.
The UN intends to launch its three-pronged plan while activating the four working committees established under the 2020 Berlin Process, providing an international umbrella to support Libyans in reaching a settlement. The structured dialogue is intended to function as both a monitoring mechanism and a parallel alternative should political institutions obstruct progress.
The Presidential Council, the Government of National Unity, and the High Council of State in Tripoli welcomed the UN plan if it was meant to move towards elections. The House of Representatives and the government it appointed endorsed the plan for its stipulation for a new, unified government. Other political forces, however, expressed little enthusiasm due to the plan’s overlapping provisions, unclear mechanisms, and lack of clarity on priorities or timeframe. The plan integrates political issues to be addressed simultaneously, raising concerns among that the process could be manipulated to benefit one side over another.
UNSMIL has yet to clarify how members of the new dialogue committee will be chosen, though it is expected to provide guarantees for the political process and propose economic and security reforms to executive bodies.
The UN mission relies on Article 64 of the Libyan Political Agreement signed in Skhirat in 2015, which allows any party to the agreement to request its convening. However, the shifting political environment and changing positions among the signatories could lead to appeals against Article 64 and hence against the dialogue committee.
Although the UN mission is counting on diplomatic backing for its plan, major powers in the Security Council have shown limited enthusiasm. Divisions persist between the US and its European allies on one side, and between Russia and the West on the other, complicating prospects for political progress in Libya. These rifts, along with the external support some powers provide to local parties, are expected to weigh heavily on the mission’s efforts.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 28 August, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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