Libyan MP warns UN to ‘Hands Off’ electoral laws

House of Representatives member Miloud Al-Aswad has warned against revising the recently approved electoral laws, which were developed through the Joint House of Representatives and High State Council Committee (6+6 Committee) process.

In his press statement, Al-Aswad identified that the primary opposition to these laws originated from the Government of National Unity in Tripoli, specifically regarding Article 7, which mandates forming a new caretaker government to oversee elections without participating in them. ‘This provision’, he explained, ‘reinforces the non-candidacy pledge from the 2020 Geneva Roadmap, converting a political commitment into a binding legal requirement after its non-enforcement contributed to the December 2021 election postponement’.

Al-Aswad criticised potential UNSMIL (United Nations Support Mission in Libya) interventions in the electoral framework, characterising such moves as overstepping the mission’s mandate. He cautioned that reopening these laws could reverse progress made since the political impasse that followed the failed 2021 elections.

The legislation, developed through the 6+6 Committee’s constitutional track, received broad domestic support and acknowledgement from the UN Security Council in its recent Libya briefings, Al-Aswad noted.

Whilst maintaining that electoral laws can be amended through proper legislative channels, he emphasised that the 6+6 Committee remains the appropriate body to address technical queries about the legislation’s implementation.