April 18, 2023
I thank Mr. President. I thank Special Representative of the Secretary-General Bathily for his briefing and welcome the participation of the representative of Libya today.
Since the last briefing on Libya, we have witnessed some positive developments toward the long-awaited elections. While this is welcome, it is imperative that Libya and the United Nations work together to ensure the elections are held before the end of this year. Japan fully supports SRSG Bathily’s initiative to achieve this aim through launching the Libyan High-Level Panel for Elections (HLPE). We encourage all international and regional stakeholders to support this initiative.
We highlight that this initiative is aimed at bringing together all relevant Libyan actors, including representatives of political institutions and political figures, tribal leaders, civil society organizations, security actors, women and youth. This will allow the HLPE to pave the way to an inclusive, truly Libyan-led and Libyan-owned political process once it is established.
At the same time, we commend the role played by Egypt in facilitating talks between the House of Representatives (HoR) and the High State Council (HSC). Japan urges both the HoR and HSC to finalize electoral laws as soon as possible in order to bring about complete, final and time-bound arrangements for holding elections within this year.
Turning to the security track, Japan commends the military and security institutions’ positive engagement toward producing a conducive environment for advancing the political process and holding free and fair elections.
It is also laudable that the Joint Military Commission 5+5 (JMC 5+5) continues to play a positive role in stepping forward toward reunification of security institutions and implementation of the ceasefire agreement. In this regard, we take positive note of UNSMIL’s recent efforts to further the dialogue with southern neighboring countries and to reach out to civil society on Security Sector Reform.
On the economic track, we are concerned that there has been almost no step forward taken in the last two months. A fair distribution of revenue through transparent budgetary processes is crucial.
We welcome the submission of seven human rights principles and recommendations to the President of the Presidential Council, which were prepared through dialogues in the Working Group on International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights.
Let me conclude by reiterating again our full support to Mr. Bathily and his mission, and to the people of Libya.
I thank you.