The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) announced Friday that a legal committee consisting of the members of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum has been formed with an aim to kick off preparations for the war-torn country's upcoming elections scheduled to be held on Dec. 24, 2021.
The UNSMIL stated that the first meeting of the committee will be held on Dec. 21.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), Mohammad er-Raid, one of the members of the forum, said that the newly established committee has 17 members and will work on efforts to provide a legal and constitutional basis for the upcoming polls.
Raid also ensured that the legal committee will act hand in cooperation with the Libyan House of Representatives and Libyan High State Council.
Forces loyal to the U.N.-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) based in Tripoli and its rival, putschist Gen. Khalifa Haftar, formally agreed on a cease-fire in October. The deal included the departure of foreign forces and mercenaries from Libya within three months, after Haftar's failed offensive on the capital launched in April 2019.
Following the cease-fire deal, the rival sides agreed to work on a mechanism to choose a transitional government that would lead the conflict-stricken country to national elections next year.
Though the 75-member forum reached an agreement to hold presidential and parliamentary elections on Dec. 24, 2021, it failed to break the deadlock on the selection mechanism for the executive authority despite six online meetings since their face-to-face talks in Tunisia in November, U.N. acting envoy for Libya Stephanie Williams said Tuesday.
“The clock is ticking, and we have a collective responsibility before the Libyan people to advance this process so as to fulfill a key objective of the road map, which is enabling and making a reality, the holding of the elections,” she added.
These talks took place amid a heavy international push to reach a peaceful settlement to Libya’s conflict. Previous diplomatic initiatives have all collapsed.
Meanwhile, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte discussed developments in Libya related to inter-Libyan political dialogue with Haftar in Benghazi Thursday.
According to Haftar's media office, he hailed "the role of the Italian government in supporting solutions to the Libyan crisis."
The media office did not provide any statements by the Italian officials who accompanied Conte in his visit to Benghazi.
Following the short visit, the Italian Foreign Ministry said that 18 Italian fishermen who were incarcerated in Libya for three months by Haftar's militia were released.
Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio thanked the Italian intelligence and diplomatic corps for "having worked to bring them back" to Italy.
Di Maio also confirmed Italy's support for the stabilization process in Libya, saying: "This is what I and Premier Giuseppe Conte have reiterated today to Haftar during our meeting in Benghazi."
