U.N. envoy to Libya Jan Kubis said Monday that time is of the essence if Libyans hope to finalize a legal framework for the planned elections to be held on time in December.
"The (Libyan) government has taken the necessary dispositions to hold elections but we need a legal framework," Kubis said at the opening of a meeting in Algeria of Libya's neighbors.
"The members of parliament are now trying to finalize the electoral law and time is running out," Kubis said in statements carried in French by the official Algerian news agency APS.
The two-day ministerial meeting is aimed at helping Libyans achieve national reconciliation and draw a roadmap for organizing the polls.
But recent talks in Geneva have exposed deep divisions over when to hold elections, what elections to hold and on what constitutional grounds, threatening to plunge Libya back into chaos.
The North African country was gripped by violence and political turmoil in the aftermath of the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted dictator Moammar Gadhafi and in which he was killed.
In recent years, the oil-rich country split between two rival administrations.
After putschist Gen. Khalifa Haftar's forces were routed from the country's west last year, the two camps signed a ceasefire in Geneva in October.
The same deal inked in October also stipulated that all foreign forces and mercenaries – which support different sides in the conflict – withdraw from Libya within three months, a provision that has not been met. The U.N. has frequently voiced that the presence of the mercenaries is a threat to peace and stability in Libya.
An interim administration was established in March this year to prepare for presidential and parliamentary polls on December 24.
Kubis on Monday said that Libya's unity government backed by the U.N. has "allocated the necessary budget for the elections."
"But it is important that as soon as possible we have a legal framework" for the polls, he emphasized.
Kubis said he told lawmakers to "assume their responsibilities and not waste time." He also called on Libya's neighbors to appoint observers to monitor the polls.