On Monday, the US ambassador to Tripoli, Richard Norland , denied the validity of Arab media reports about the existence of a Western plan to postpone the elections in Libya.
As a result of differences between the official Libyan institutions regarding the electoral laws and the role of the judiciary in the electoral process, it was not possible to hold presidential elections on December 24, 2021 , as part of a plan sponsored by the United Nations.
The US embassy said, in a statement, that “Ambassador Norland refutes what was recently published by the Erm News and Al-Araby Al-Jadeed website of false allegations and accounts based on unnamed sources, alleging the existence of a Western plan to postpone the elections.”
Norland stressed, “The United States continues to support efforts to hold free and fair elections in Libya as soon as possible,” according to the statement.
On more than one occasion, Norland called for a solution to the Libyan crisis through holding elections “as soon as possible”.
Libya is currently witnessing a state of political division over the inauguration of the House of Representatives in Tobruk (east) Fathi Bashagha as head of a new government in early March.
While the Prime Minister of the National Unity Government, Abdel Hamid Dabaiba, refuses to hand over power except to a government that comes according to a newly elected parliament, in implementation of the outcomes of the political dialogue forum.
The United Nations is making efforts to achieve Libyan consensus on a constitutional basis for holding parliamentary and presidential elections “as soon as possible”, in light of the current impossibility of a popular referendum on a draft constitution.
Libyans hope to hold parliamentary and presidential elections that will contribute to ending an armed conflict that has plagued their oil-rich country for years.
