ROME | 29 April 2026 — The Small Convening tasked with addressing the two first milstones of the UN-facilitated roadmap held its inaugural meeting today in Rome. The session was conducted under the auspices of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and hosted by the Republic of Italy.
Deliberations were held in a serious and constructive spirit. Participants underscored the imperative of honoring the will of the 2.8 million Libyan citizens currently registered to vote and reaffirmed the necessity of breaking the political deadlock that has stalled the electoral process. In alignment with popular aspirations, the Group reached an agreement to reconstitute the Board of the High National Elections Commission (HNEC) as follows:
- To resolve the impasse regarding the HNEC’s leadership, the Small Convening recommends that the Attorney General nominate a judicial figure of distinguished competence and impartiality, to be appointed according to established legal frameworks.
- Taking note of the prior actions of the House of Representatives (HoR) and the High Council of State (HCS) in their sessions of 29 December 2025, and 12 January 2026, the following members are nominated to the new Board:
- For the HoR: Mr. Ali Al-Tayeb Abdul Jawad, Mr. Haitham Ali Al-Tabouli, and Mr. Ali Abu Salah.
- For the HCS: Ms. Sana Al-Lishani, Mr. Bdiwi Mohammed Bdiwi, and Mr. Ali Miftah Al-Mabrouk.
The Small Convening has also initiated discussions on the contentious issues in the electoral framework, agreeing to maintain ongoing consultations facilitated by UNSMIL. The objective remains the finalization of consensual, implementable electoral laws that meet the Libyan people's demand for national polls.
This meeting follows the February briefing to the UN Security Council by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Hanna Tetteh, who introduced a "two-step approach" designed to overcome the legislative deadlock regarding the HNEC Board and electoral legislation. The convening of this Small Group constitutes the first operational step of that approach.
