Members of Libya’s 4+4 Committee have initialled a draft final agreement aimed at overcoming obstacles to the UN-facilitated political roadmap and advancing the country’s electoral process.
The agreement was initialed this Thursday August 20, following a series of meetings to address key political and electoral issues. The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said the Committee agreed to hold another meeting in Libya before the end of August to finalize arrangements for implementing the agreement ahead of its official announcement.
The committee has been working on an electoral framework for presidential and parliamentary elections, as well as arrangements concerning electoral institutions, including the leadership of the High National Elections Commission.
The 4+4 Committee comprises four representatives from eastern Libya and four from the west. It was established by UNSMIL as an alternative mechanism to help break the political deadlock after the House of Representatives and High Council of State failed to agree on electoral laws and the appointment of a new elections commission board.
In July, UNSMIL said the committee had resolved outstanding issues and agreed to form a working group to prepare the final text of the agreement. Libya remains politically and institutionally divided, with growing UN and international pressure on political factions to implement the roadmap, hold national elections and end the country’s prolonged transitional period.
