UN envoy: Libya could hold elections within 12–18 months

Nationwide elections in Libya could take place within the next 12 to 18 months if the United Nations roadmap for resolving the country’s crisis is successfully carried out, according to Hanna Tetteh, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Libya and Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).

“Not today, but if we manage to successfully implement the roadmap, then, as I said at the Security Council briefing on 21 August, it will be possible within 12–18 months,” Tetteh said in an interview with TASS when asked about the prospect of elections in the near future.

She underlined the significance of achieving this goal, explaining that “national elections will help form a unified government with legitimacy.” Such a government, she added, is essential for Libya both to restructure its domestic institutions and to strengthen its standing on the international stage.

Since the overthrow and killing of longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya has struggled to function as a unified state. In recent years, political power has been divided between rival administrations: one based in Tripoli in the west and another in the east, backed by the Libyan National Army.

In 2021, the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum in Geneva, held under UN auspices, elected a transitional executive authority tasked with preparing the country for general elections. However, those elections have yet to take place.

At present, Libya remains split between two governments that do not recognise each other. The Tripoli-based administration, led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, is supported by the United Nations. The rival authority, headed by Osama Hammad, was originally established in Benghazi and has since relocated to Sirte.

By Tamilla Hasanova