Stephanie Williams, the UN Secretary General’s adviser on Libya, said on Saturday that Libya doesn’t require a new transitional government after having five in recent years.
Williams said that Libya has been in transition since 2011 and that it requires democratically elected institutions and institutions that are united to provide the necessary security for the population, to secure the country’s borders, and to provide assistance to the population. He again urged Libyans to vote in order to make this happen.
She noted that the Libyan parliament currently has a roadmap committee, which is consulting all over Libya. The report, along with the proposals, should be presented to parliament on January 25th.
According to her, she travelled from east to west of Libya, talking to Libyans and hearing diverse perspectives. She explained that some people believe a constitutional basis is needed in order for the elections to continue, while others wanted the draft constitution to be put to a referendum, and others wanted judicial oversight over the list of presidential candidates in order to start the election process.
She said, “There are people who want to be elected as MPs. So I can say that there is not a single dominant opinion in Libya. There are various views and we are certainly involved in this political process as the United Nations. We understand the complexities of each specific option. It’s Libya’s decision to keep going.”
Williams said parties in Libya have a desire to negotiate, and if there is a political agreement and a desire to negotiate in good faith, whatever options are on the table, the negotiation process can go forward.
She said, “We have a roadmap agreed by the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum’s roadmap that goes on until June of this year. I believe that a choice is still quite possible in this time frame. This may include different scenarios. But it is possible, and I think it is increasingly important that the Libyan people have a political horizon here.”
Williams said she doesn’t see any desire among Libyans to return to war at this time and that even the Libyan rhetoric has become political discourse, replacing war rhetoric with a civilized discourse.
