Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General (ASRSG) Stephanie Williams was pleased to convene today the first virtual meeting of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum’s Advisory Committee (AC), composed of 18 LPDF members, to discuss the mandate of the committee, its tasks, expected outcomes, and the timeframe for the committee’s work.

In her opening remarks, ASRSG Williams reiterated that the committee will play an advisory role and will work for a period of two weeks to produce concrete recommendations to address differences that have emerged over the selection mechanism and the nomination procedures of the executive authority, and to build consensus among the LPDF members.

“There is now clear support on the part of the international community for peace in Libya,” Ms. Williams noted. She urged the participants to seize this opportunity in order to expedite the establishment of a unified executive authority, and to work together in order to fulfill the aspirations of the Libyan people.”

The mission requested the members of the Advisory Committee to submit written proposals to be discussed in the next meeting scheduled to be held virtually on Wednesday.

On an equally important front, the LPDF Legal Committee (LC) held its third virtual session today during which a number of LC members shared proposals for constitutional arrangements for elections. The proposals presented a range of options to facilitate the implementation of the Roadmap agreed upon by the LPDF in November 2020. UNSMIL’s Electoral Team provided a briefing highlighting the necessary sequencing and time-bound milestones related to constitutional arrangements for holding the national elections on the agreed-upon date of 24 December 2021. The LC agreed to resume its discussions at the end of this week.

The Legal Committee, also composed of 18 members of the LPDF, is tasked with following up on the work of the House of Representatives (HoR) and High Council of State (HCS) in relation to constitutional arrangements, and to provide the two institutions with recommendations in an effort to reach an agreement on a constitutional basis leading to holding the national elections on 24 December 2021.