Stephanie Williams calls participants in LPDF on emergency to move forwards against looming dangers

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Tripoli, Libya, December 3  (Infosplusgabon) - The acting special representatives of the UN Secretary-General in Libya, Stephanie Williams, Wednesday called on participants in the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) to move forward in discussions on mechanisms to choose leaders of the executive authority.

This, she said was in view of the urgent situation and the dangers posed by the economic and social situation and the presence of foreign forces.

 

In a speech at the third virtual meeting of the second round of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum Wednesday, Mrs Williams said: "I know that many believe that the dialogue concerns only power sharing, but it is really about sharing responsibility for the well-being of future generations. And I call you, during today’s discussions, to move forwards, as I say and repeat it: time is not at your side".

 

The acting chief of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) warned against "the inaction and obstruction that will not be profitable" to the parties.

 

‘’There are now 10 military bases in your country – everywhere in your country – not in a particular region – and those bases are today partially or totally occupied by foreign forces".

 

She added also that "there are now 20,000 foreign forces and/or mercenaries in your country, and it is horrible violation of Libya’s sovereignty. And you could realize that those foreign forces are here as invited, but now they seize your house. It is about flagrant violation of the arm embargo".

 

"They provoke the movement of arms to your country, but your country does not need morel arms. Their presence in Libya is not your interest, but in Libya are their interests," she further warned.

 

The UN official called on Libyans to be careful as ‘’there is now serious crisis concerning the foreign presence in our country".

 

She reiterated previous warnings "against the deterioration of the socioeconomic conditions in the country and the fact that we foresee by a month, exactly in January 2021, some 1.3 million Libyans, your citizens, who will be in humanitarian need".

 

"There is significant drop in the purchasing power of the Libyan Dinar. The crisis of liquidity occurred again, there is a shortage of liquidities in movement", added Mrs Williams.

 

"There is presently a terrible electricity crisis. I don’t need to remind you how much the electricity cuts were horrible, because of the terrible interruption and the bad management in all the country. I don’t point a finger at any one. It is a crisis that hits the West and the East. You have a crisis of corruption. You have a crisis of mismanagement and now only 13 out of the 27 electric stations are operational".

 

According to the UNSMIL chief, Libya needs "a billion US dollars immediately to invest in basic electric network infrastructure to avoid total collapse of the electric network in your country".

 

She stressed that "it is extremely difficult now because of the divisions in institutions, the corruption epidemic and that of the class of corrupted people determined to stay in power".

 

This situation is worsened by the escalation of the crisis of the coronavirus pandemic, she added, indicating that there are now "about 94,000 cases in Libya".

 

"We think that these estimations are weak and the true number is higher, but there is terrible lack of viral tests in the country," she said.

 

"There are foreign actors who take actions in all impunity. There are local actors involved in endemic corruption and the exploitation of positions to obtain personal advantages, and there is bad management in the management of the country, as the impunity and the problems of human rights increase daily, as long as we receive reports on abductions, arbitrary detentions and assassinations by armed groups in all the country," she added.

 

The UN official underlined that at a time when "there is much politic tourism to the different countries and capitals as the general population of Libyans suffers from the absence of signs of improvement of their living conditions".

 

She reaffirmed that everyone recognized that "the best way to move forwards passes through the political dialogue, because this dialogue is an opportunity for large and complete sharing to make decisions".

 

"We made a long way in Tunisia where we set a date for the elections. It is imperative that all institutions in charge of organizing those elections are held accountable," she stated.

 

Mrs Williams however reminded referred to the existence of a crisis of governance, adding that "the best way to face the crisis of governance is to unify your institutions, to unify your central bank, which should hold a board of directors to immediately face the crisis of exchange rates".

 

 

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/NKL/GABON2020

 

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