Parliamentary and presidential elections in conflict-ridden Libya should be held within the year, the United Nations (UN) envoy to the North African country, Ghassan Salame, announced on Tuesday.
Salame also set out a reconciliation time-frame, including “three or four planned amendments’’ to the agreement signed by the warring Libyan factions in December 2015 following talks held in the Moroccan resort of Sukhairat.
The envoy said he hoped the amendments would be finalised within a few weeks to pave the way for a national conference to be held in the coming few months to bring the rival factions together.
“Legislation for the elections would be drafted in the Spring, and the elections themselves would be held within the year.
“An election law is important because Libya has never witnessed pluralistic presidential elections before,’’ Salame said.
Libya has been in a state of near anarchy since the 2011 uprising which toppled long-time dictator Moamer Gaddafi.
Rival Libyan leaders Fayez Serraj and Khalifa Haftar met in Paris in July, where they agreed to hold parliamentary and presidential elections “as soon as possible,” without giving an exact date.
Salame also took part in the Paris talks.