Libya decided to relinquish its candidacy for membership in the Peace and Security Council of the African Union for the period 2022-2025 in favor of Morocco.
This came in a Moroccan statement following telephone conversations held by Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita with his Libyan counterpart Najla Al-Manqoush, according to the official Moroccan News Agency. An official Libyan statement in this regard was not immediately issued.
The Moroccan Foreign Ministry said that Al-Manqoush informed her Moroccan counterpart that Libya had decided to “withdraw its candidacy for membership in the Peace and Security Council of the African Union by drawing up the mandate 2022-2025, and waiving it in favor of Morocco, and supporting the Moroccan candidacy for this mandate. This decision will be officially communicated to the African Union Commission.”
This council is responsible for implementing the decisions of the African Union, and it consists of 15 countries, 5 of which are elected for a term of 3 years, and 10 countries for a term of two years.
The Moroccan Foreign Ministry added that Bourita assured Al-Manqoush of “the Kingdom of Morocco’s strong support (…) for the national unity government and Libyan institutions, and its efforts to hold elections in a comprehensive, participatory and pragmatic framework, in a way that contributes to efforts to find a final solution to the crisis that guarantees Libya’s stability and development.”
It is scheduled to start in Libya presidential and parliamentary elections on December 24, according to a road map sponsored by the United Nations.
However, there are still differences over the electoral laws between the House of Representatives on the one hand and the Supreme Council of State (representative of the consultative) and the unity government and the Presidential Council on the other.
Libyans hope that these elections will contribute to ending the conflict in their oil-rich country, which has witnessed armed conflict for years. With the support of Arab and Western countries and foreign mercenaries, the militia of retired Major General Khalifa Haftar fought the former internationally recognized Government of National Accord.
