On 8 September, the Speaker of Libya’s House of Representatives (HoR), Aqeela Saleh, submitted to the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) legislation for holding national elections to select a Libyan head of state on 24 December 2021. Saleh petitioned for it to be recognised as the single, authoritative, final and exclusive decision on the matter – bypassing the High Council of State’s (HCS) consultative role on clarifying elections. On 10 September, UN Special Envoy to Libya Jan Kubis addressed the UN Security Council on the subject of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) political roadmap, commenting that Saleh had informed him that ‘the presidential electoral law was already adopted’ and adding that ‘the parliamentary elections can be organised on the basis of the existing law with possible amendments that could be considered and approved within the coming two weeks.’ Kubis noted in his statement that ‘holding the elections in Libya, even in a less than ideal situation, and with all imperfections, challenges and risks is much more desirable than no elections that could only foster division, instability, and conflict.’
HoR speaker submits law for presidential elections to UN