Ján Kubiš, the new UN envoy to Libya, thanked the Egyptian government on Tuesday for backing a political solution in Libya as he addressed the third round of the Libyan constitutional track dialogue, which is being held in Egypt’s Hurghada from 9-12 February

The dialogue, attended by two delegations from the Libyan parliament and Supreme Council of State, aims to discuss arrangements for holding a referendum on a draft constitution prepared by the Constitutional Assembly tasked with writing a new Libyan charter.

The new UN envoy highlighted the importance of the dialogue, saying a Libyan agreement on the arrangements for the constitutional referendum directly affects the lives of citizens.

Kubiš took over the post of UN Libyan envoy in January, succeeding Stephanie Williams, who served as acting UN Libya envoy in 2020.

During the dialogue, the head of Egypt’s committee on Libyan Affairs called for exploiting the positive developments Libya is currently witnessing in light of the election of a new executive authority and the outcome of the 5+5 Military Commission meetings.

The 5+5 Joint Military Commission is an effort adopted by the UN Security Council as a track to settle the conflict in Libya, bringing five military officials from each of the eastern and western camps in the country.

Meanwhile, Emad Al-Sayeh, the head of Libya’s Supreme National Elections Commission (SNEC), confirmed the SNEC's readiness to hold the constitutional referendum.

Third round of Libyan dialogue on constitutional track kicks off in Hurghada, Egypt

During the deliberations, the heads of the two Libyan delegations thanked the Egyptian president and government for their support, affirming that Egypt only aims to help the Libyan state achieve stability.

The dialogue comes days after the UN-led Libyan Political Dialogue Forum chose a new interim prime minister, Abdel-Hamid Dbeibah, and a new head for the country’s Presidential Council, Mohammad Younes Menfi; a step that Egypt has hailed.

Participants at the second edition of the meeting in January agreed to hold a constitutional referendum and discussed arrangements in preparation for Libya’s general elections, which is scheduled for December this year.