6th August, 2018
Libyan Interior Minister AbdulSalam Ashour said on Monday that preparations in coordination with the UN are underway to secure the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections in Libya.
“We are currently working on a plan to secure the elections expected to take place on Dec. 10
in Libya,” Ashour said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.
Paris in May hosted a meeting on Libya with the participation of different Libyan parties to end
the political crisis.
The parties agreed to hold and commit themselves to “credible” presidential and parliamentary
elections slated for Dec. 10.
“When the President of the Presidential Council of the Libyan Government of National Accord Fayez Serraj announced the elections on July 20, we formed the Elections Affairs Office based on Resolution No. 1007 of 2018 to follow up the elections issue,” Ashour said.
The specialised office was entrusted with preparing security plans for the elections and coordinating
with the elections commission on the security issue, the minister noted.
“The time is short, but we are currently working well to try to catch up with the scheduled date if there is no delay or postponement,” he explained.
Despite a UN-sponsored political agreement signed in December 2015, Libya remains politically divided
between rival authorities in the east and west of the country, both competing for legitimacy.