TRIPOLI, Aug. 21 — Members of the Libyan “4+4” Committee initialed a draft final agreement on Thursday in a meeting in the Tunisian capital Tunis aimed at addressing obstacles to implementing the UN-facilitated political roadmap and advancing the country’s electoral process.
In a statement posted on its official Facebook page, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said the committee members agreed to hold another meeting in Libya before the end of August to finalize arrangements to implement the agreement ahead of its official announcement.
The move follows a series of meetings by the committee, which was tasked with addressing key issues, in particular reaching an implementable legal framework for presidential and parliamentary elections and making arrangements related to electoral institutions, including the leadership of the High National Elections Commission.
The “4+4” Committee, comprising four representatives from eastern Libya and four from the west, was launched by the UNSMIL as an alternative mechanism to overcome the political impasse after Libya’s House of Representatives and the High Council of State failed to agree on amending electoral laws and appointing a new board for the High National Elections Commission.
In July, the UNSMIL said the committee had concluded discussions on outstanding issues and agreed to form a working group from among its members, with support from the mission, to prepare the final text of the agreement.
The initialing of the agreement is considered a preliminary step before its final adoption and official announcement, with committee members expected to discuss implementation arrangements at their upcoming meeting inside Libya.
The developments come as Libya remains politically and institutionally divided, amid growing UN and international pressure on Libyan parties to implement the roadmap, hold national elections and end the transitional period. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
