Tekala objects to the track as Guterres welcomes the House endorsement
LIBYA – The President of the High Council of State, Mohamed Tekala, sent a message to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres objecting to a move by the UN mission in Tripoli on the political process and the bodies linked to elections. In a position conveyed in the daily press briefing by his spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, Guterres welcomed the House of Representatives’ endorsement of the “4+4” mini-meeting agreement signed on 30 August.
Tekala rejects the outcomes and calls for building on “6+6”
Tekala said the mission had brought together a limited number of people who, in his view, lacked legitimate representative standing for the sovereign bodies, and had prepared a document on the structure of the political process and the reconfiguration of election-related institutions. He described the step as a departure from the UN’s facilitation role, interference in internal affairs and an infringement of sovereignty and of the competencies of institutions arising from the Libyan Political Agreement as set out in the Constitutional Declaration.
He affirmed his rejection of the step and its outcomes, arguing that formal presence does not replace legitimate mandate and that limited consensus does not create obligations for institutions he said had been sidelined. He called for bridging differences between the constitutional institutions and for building on the “6+6” committee’s understandings rather than parallel tracks that could reproduce division.
Tekala asked Guterres to ensure the mission stays within its mandate and the references of the Political Agreement, respects state sovereignty and the competencies of its institutions, does not lend legitimacy to narrowly based tracks, and reverses the step. He said his aim was a consensual, Libyan-owned path leading to elections, not the obstruction of political efforts.
Guterres: House endorsement a step to overcome deadlock
The daily press briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, Stéphane Dujarric, said Guterres joins the UN mission in welcoming the House of Representatives’ endorsement of the “4+4” mini-meeting agreement, and regards that endorsement as an important step that helps overcome the current political deadlock.
The briefing affirmed the mission’s commitment to supporting a Libyan-led and Libyan-owned political process to unify and strengthen national institutions and create the conditions for inclusive, credible parliamentary and presidential elections that meet the aspirations of the Libyan people.
