UN to go ahead with efforts for unity government in Libya

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Thursday 22 Oct 2015 - 12:14 Makkah mean time-9-1-1437 Pic: UN News Center Tunis (IINA) – UN Special Representative for Libya Bernardino León said the effort towards forming a unity government will continue despite the opposition announced by some parties not to vote for the UN-backed political agreement, UN News Center reported. Speaking at a press conference here on Wednesday, the UN envoy said that there had been a position on the agreement announced by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, which was then followed by “a statement signed by what seems to be a majority of the members insisting that there was no proper vote and that no proper decision (was) taken”. “Unfortunately, all these groups or personalities that are opposing the political solution have not been able to put on the table any alternative,” he added, referring to the UN-backed political agreement, negotiated by Libyan parties, aimed at ending the crisis in the country. The process is owned by Libya, not the UN, and the negotiations had included Libyans from all political and geographic regions, León explained, adding that “this is the most important asset this dialogue has”. The UN had facilitated the process but had not proposed names for the national unity government. “There is no chance for small groups or personalities to hijack this process,” the UN envoy said, adding: “The basis of our dialogue has been consensus and it will continue to be consensus,” he said. The UN envoy also reiterated the support of the international community for the process. “This Libyan proposal has been supported strongly by the international community and I think Libyans can be proud to have this support from all these international actors and I think this is a very important asset for this,” he said. León pointed out that new meetings will be convened in the coming days to listen to proposals and ideas from the Libyans involved in the process and those outside the process. The United Nations assisted in drafting an agreement to form a government of national unity and in early October, a six-member executive council was proposed to lead it. AB/IINA