I will make three points.
First, the United Kingdom welcomes SRSG Tetteh’s roadmap to advance the political process towards elections and a peaceful transition.
Libya has remained in political deadlock for too long. The violence in Tripoli in May was a stark reminder of the risks of failing to make progress on the political track.
The SRSG’s roadmap provides a positive vision with careful balance to help deliver the peaceful, stable and prosperous country that the Libyan people deserve.
Second, we now urge all Libyan stakeholders and the international community to fully engage with and support the roadmap, to ensure its success.
The delivery of free, fair, transparent and inclusive national elections would be a major step in Libya’s political transition, and we urge all actors to support this effort.
We also welcome the roadmap’s incorporation of broader perspectives from the Libyan public through the Structured Dialogue.
We encourage all actors to ensure the voices of the Libyan public are meaningfully reflected and respected at every stage in the roadmap.
And third, we welcome last weekend’s successful elections in twenty-six municipalities.
Municipal elections are a vital pillar of inclusive and accountable governance.
Last month, the United Kingdom’s Minister for the Middle East and North Africa visited Libya and met with officials from the High National Electoral Commission, reaffirming our strong support for this process.
But it is concerning that elections were prevented from taking place in several municipalities, denying many Libyans their democratic rights.
We urge all actors to respect the rights of Libyans to elect their local representatives, uphold the integrity of the electoral process and ensure that municipal elections proceed without obstruction.
President, we look forward to continuing our close engagement with SRSG Tetteh, Libyan actors and international partners in support of building a stable, unified Libya with institutions that deliver for all.
