LONDON: The Arab League on Friday welcomed a Libyan joint statement agreeing to draw a “clear and specified” road map to hold long-awaited elections.
The statement was issued by House of Representatives Speaker Aguila Saleh and Chairman of the High Council of State Khaled Al-Mishri regarding an Egyptian-brokered constitutional document following their discussions in Cairo on Thursday.
Ahmed Aboul Gheit, secretary-general of the Arab League, expressed his thanks and appreciation for Egypt’s efforts in sponsoring the meetings of the committees concerned with the Libyan constitutional process in Cairo over the past year and a half, according to his spokesman Jamal Rushdi.
The meetings enabled the preparation of the document and its referral to the two councils for approval in accordance with their respective systems, he added.
Rushdi said Aboul Gheit “hopes that this political development will entail practical and serious steps leading to the announcement of a clear and specific national road map to complete all necessary procedures to complete the electoral process, as it is the most important demand of the Libyan people.”
The secretary-general also appealed to all Libyan parties to support the current state of consensus, including ensuring that inclusive national elections are held as soon as possible.
Rushdi reaffirmed the Arab League’s support for “every serious and fair endeavor aimed at reviving the vitality and effectiveness of the political process in Libya, ending the long-running transitional stages in the country, establishing a permanent state of stability, and initiating the process of construction, reconstruction and development.”
On Thursday, the UN Mission in Libya also welcomed the joint declaration and said it strongly encouraged the two chambers to swiftly reach a complete and final agreement, including on contentious issues, to finalize the steps required to take the country to inclusive national elections within a specific time frame.
“UNSMIL reiterates the obligations of political leaders in Libya to demonstrate a genuine and continuous commitment toward achieving a lasting peace by building on previous agreements … aimed at resolving the political crisis through elections as soon as possible,” it said on Twitter.
The mission added that it remained ready to support genuine initiatives aimed at achieving a national consensus toward an inter-Libyan solution “and to the protracted political crisis.”
