NEW YORK CITY: The US and the UN on Wednesday called on rival political factions in Libya to overcome deepening divisions and accelerate their efforts to organize national elections, warning that worsening economic conditions and a fractured judiciary threaten the country’s stability.
Addressing a meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the latest developments in the North African country, Massad Boulos, the senior US adviser for Africa and Middle Eastern Affairs, said Washington would step up its diplomatic efforts in support of UN-led initiatives designed to help unify Libyan institutions and pave the way for a democratically elected government.
“Unification is the key to Libya’s stability and prosperity,” he said as he urged the nation’s leaders to reach “pragmatic compromises” on security and economic integration.
Libya has been engulfed in political turmoil and national divisions since the 2011 Arab Spring protests that led to the overthrow and killing of Muammar Qaddafi. It is split between two rival governments, in the east and the west of the country, each of which is backed by armed militias and international patrons.
The US is working with senior officials from both eastern and western Libya to advance military and economic coordination, Boulos said.
In April, US Africa Command will conduct part of its annual “Flintlock” special operations military exercise in the coastal city of Sirte. Forces from both of the Libyan administrations will train together, a development Boulos hailed as a milestone on the path toward military unification.
On the economic front, he welcomed an agreement for a unified development program, signed in November, that empowers the National Oil Corporation and the Central Bank of Libya, and called for it to be fully implemented alongside the adoption of a unified national budget.
The UN’s special representative for Libya, Hanna S. Tetteh, told the Security Council that despite ongoing UN-facilitated talks under a political road map, there had been “no meaningful
progress” between the eastern-based House of Representatives and the Tripoli-based High Council of State regarding key steps required to organize national elections.
The two governments failed to implement an agreement on the selection of the board of the High National Elections Commission, she said, and instead had taken unilateral actions that complicate the process and risk undermining the commission’s unity.
Tetteh has proposed that a small group be formed to resolve the most critical electoral milestones. If that fails, a broader political convening might be necessary, she added.
Six months after she estimated that progress could be achieved within two months if there were sufficient political will, “the facts speak for themselves,” she said.
Libya’s once largely unified judicial system is now increasingly divided, she warned, with the parallel constitutional bodies that operate in Tripoli and Benghazi issuing conflicting rulings. The rival courts have annulled each other’s decisions in recent weeks, including legislation governing past parliamentary mandates and the appointment of senior judicial officials.
“If actions are not taken to preserve the unity, coherence and independence of the judiciary, the conflicting legal systems that emerge will impact the economy, elections, governance, security and human rights,” Tetteh said, describing this as a “red line” for Libyan unity.
She urged the Security Council to ensure individuals who take actions that undermine the unity of the judicial system are held accountable.
The economic outlook is also deteriorating, Tetteh said, citing devaluation of the national currency, rising prices, fuel shortages and growing public discontent.
On Jan. 18, the Central Bank of Libya devalued the dinar by about 14.7 percent, the second such decision in nine months, in an effort to ease foreign currency pressures. The move eroded household purchasing power, particularly among vulnerable groups.
Nearly 80 percent of public expenditure in Libya is devoted to salaries and subsidies, leaving little room for spending on development, Tetteh said. Fragmented institutions and lack of coordination on spending have contributed to foreign currency imbalances and pressure on reserves.
She also highlighted the problems of persistent corruption and smuggling networks that drain state resources. Investigations by the attorney general’s office found that a “fuel-for-crude” barter mechanism that ended in 2025 had cost the state an estimated $1.5 billion annually compared with global market prices.
According to UN agencies, about 30 percent of Libyans live in poverty, and food prices have risen sharply over the past year.
Transnational criminal networks continue to exploit the fragmented security landscape, Tetteh said, citing a report published in January by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime that identified the country as a major transit hub for drug trafficking, often linked to weapons and human smuggling.
A joint report issued this week by the UN’s Human Rights Office and its mission in Libya documented abuses targeting migrants and asylum seekers, including the discovery of 21 bodies in a mass grave in Ajdabiya, and the release of more than 400 migrants from trafficking sites in eastern Libya.
Tetteh called on Libyan authorities to take action, with international support, to dismantle trafficking networks and ensure accountability.