The African Union (AU) has requested the AU Commission to make effort to organize presidential and parliamentary elections in Libya in October, the AU said in a communique, released on Tuesday, following the two-day 32nd AU Summit, which was held in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa
ADDIS ABABA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th February, 2019) The African Union (AU) has requested the AU Commission to make effort to organize presidential and parliamentary elections in Libya in October, the AU said in a communique, released on Tuesday, following the two-day 32nd AU Summit, which was held in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.
According to the communique, the AU High-Level Committee on Libya requested the AU Commission to "take the necessary measures, jointly with the United Nations, with a view to organizing during the first half of July 2019, the Inclusive Libyan National Peace and Reconciliation Forum" and to "take, jointly with the United Nations and the Libyan Government, all the necessary measures for the organization of presidential and legislative elections in October 2019."
Libya has been gripped by conflict since 2011, when the country's longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed. The eastern part of the country is governed by the parliament, backed by the Libyan National Army and located in Tobruk. The UN-backed Government of National Accord, headed by Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj, operates in the country's west and is headquartered in Tripoli.
The United Nations tried to organize the first nation-wide presidential and parliamentary election since Gaddafi's death on December 10, however, UN Envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame warned the UN Security Council in early November that the deadline could not be met and suggested postponing the elections until next spring.
