Attachments
I. Introduction
1. The present report, submitted pursuant to Security Council resolutions 2510 (2020), 2542 (2020), 2570 (2021) and 2702 (2023), covers political, security and economic developments in Libya. It provides an overview of the human rights and humanitarian situation in the country and of the activities of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) since the issuance of the previous report (S/2024/301), dated 9 April 2024.
II. Political and security-related developments
2. On 16 April, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya and Head of UNSMIL, Abdoulaye Bathily, tendered his resignation, which the Secretary-General accepted effective 15 May. The newly appointed Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Stephanie Koury, assumed the role of Officer-in-Charge of UNSMIL on 16 May. UNSMIL continued its engagement with Libyan and international actors to identify a consensual pathway to move the political process forward and facilitate the holding of inclusive presidential and legislative elections, in line with Security Council resolution 2702 (2023).
A. Implementation of the intra-Libyan dialogue tracks
3. On the political track, there was no progress towards resolving the contested issues in the electoral laws, including the mandatory second round of presidential elections; the linking of parliamentary elections to the successful holding of presidential elections; the formation of a new unified government to lead the country to elections; and ensuring an inclusive electoral process.
4. On 30 April, the President of the High Council of State, Mohamed Takala, announced the imminent formation of a technical committee to amend the electoral laws, as outlined in the final communiqué of the meeting convened by the League of Arab States on 10 March. At the time of reporting, that committee had not been formed. On 8 May, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aguila Saleh, stated that the House and the High Council of State were close to reaching an agreement on the mechanism for the formation of a new government. On 8 July, the League of Arab States invited the heads of the Presidential Council, the House of Representatives and the High Council of State for a meeting, to be held on 15 July, in follow-up to the first tripartite meeting in Cairo. On 11 July, the head of the High Council of State, in a letter to the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, declined the invitation, citing a lack of progress by the House of Representatives in resolving outstanding issues. In that letter, he also indicated that the High Council of State dialogue with the House of Representatives would be suspended until outstanding issues, notably in relation to the national budget, had been addressed. The head of the High Council of State also declined to attend a meeting, proposed by Morocco, of the heads of the Presidential Council, the House of Representatives and the High Council of State that was to be held in Morocco.
5. On 6 June, some members of the House of Representatives and the High Council of State met in Misratah in follow-up to the informal consultations held in Tunis in February 2024 (S/2024/301, para. 3). In a statement issued after the meeting, the participants affirmed that the electoral laws were implementable as the basis for organizing elections. On 18 July, more than 100 members of the House of Representatives and the High Council of State met in Cairo. In their closing statement, they reaffirmed their commitment to holding presidential and parliamentary elections in accordance with the electoral laws adopted by the House of Representatives and to presenting a road map outlining the remaining steps towards elections, including the establishment of a new, unified government.
6. On 28 July, the Speaker of the House of Representatives announced that nominations were being accepted for Prime Minister in a new unified government. The Speaker urged qualified individuals to submit their candidacy documents at the Office of the Rapporteur of the House in Benghazi between 28 July and 11 August, and he invited members of the House of Representatives and High Council of State to endorse qualified candidates. In a statement issued on 28 July, the High Council of State rejected unilateral steps and reaffirmed that consensus is the only viable means for a successful political process.
7. The Deputy Special Representative for Political Affairs engaged in extensive consultations with Libyan political and military leaders to seek views on overcoming the prevailing stalemate and advancing the political process across various tracks. She also met with representatives of civil society, women, young people, tribal leaders, political parties, academics, businesspeople and security actors from across the country to foster inclusiveness in the political process and ensure the sustainability of its outcomes. Interlocutors generally expressed a desire for a broader political dialogue involving not only the institutional leaders that would address prevailing divisions and monopolies over power through the organization of elections as soon as possible.
8. On the economic track, the technical committee established by the House of Representatives (S/2024/301, para. 15) continued to work on a unified budget for the country for 2024. On 9 July, six members of that committee indicated in a letter that they had not reviewed the final draft of the budget being considered by the House. Also on 9 July, the President of the High Council of State issued a letter urging the House of Representatives not to discuss the law on the budget until after it had held consultations with the High Council of State, as required under the 2015 Libyan Political Agreement. On that same day, the President of the Presidential Council issued a letter in which he urged the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President of the High Council of State and the Governor of the Central Bank to adhere to the constitutional requirements for approving the budget law, including by consulting with the High Council of State on the draft law.
9. On 10 July, in a closed session, the House of Representatives adopted a law approving a “supplementary allocation” of nearly 89 billion Libyan dinars ($18.4 billion) to the general budget of 90 billion Libyan dinars ($18.6 billion) adopted earlier in 2024. That law makes no reference to the work of the inclusive technical committee on a unified budget. Also on 10 July, the House of Representatives-designated prime minister, Osama Hammad, hailed the general budget for 2024 adopted by the House and expressed the hope that it would be the first step towards unifying all State institutions. On 11 July, the President of the High Council of State, in a letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, rejected the adoption of the budget, asserting that the draft law had not been referred to the High Council of State for a binding opinion in accordance with article 19.2 of the Libyan Political Agreement. In a separate letter addressed to the Governor of the Central Bank of Libya, he requested that the Governor not implement the budget.
10. On the security track, UNSMIL continued to support the efforts of the 5+5 Joint Military Commission to implement the 2020 ceasefire agreement. On 30 and 31 May, UNSMIL held a workshop on a code of conduct for military and security actors from across Libya, with the aim of promoting professionalism, accountability and the protection of civilians. On 6 June, the Ministry of Defence submitted the finalized code of conduct to the Office of the Prime Minister and the Presidential Council for approval.