Murqub District youth: “Transitional periods must come to an end”

 

Twenty-two young men and women from Murqub District and the surrounding area joined UNSMIL officials in an online consultation Monday to share their thoughts on the Advisory Committee’s proposals to take Libya to elections and unify state institutions.  

“The transitional phases have resulted in a loss of trust from the public in the institutions,” said one participant. “All options have pros and cons, but the national dialogue must be linked to the electoral track,” they added. 

Participants were briefed on the four options put forward by the Advisory Committee in May. As outlined in the  Executive Summary of the Advisory Committee’s report,  the options include:    

1. Holding simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections, then adopt a constitution;    

2. Holding parliamentary elections followed by adopting a permanent constitution, followed by presidential elections;    

3. Adopting a permanent constitution before national elections; or    

4. Dissolving existing institutions and forming a new dialogue forum that appoints an executive and selects a 60-member constituent assembly to adopt a temporary constitution and electoral laws for national elections.  

Many of the participants favoured option four; however, others discussed the importance of holding presidential elections and stressed the need for a constitution. Others said Libya already had one dialogue forum and a referendum would be needed to launch a second. 

“The government must be elected by the people,” said one participant, noting that some of the current leaders have been in power seven years. “Transitional governments must end.” 

Many participants raised their frustration with those who have acted as spoilers in the past to prevent elections. They highlighted that this would likely happen again and that the UN Security Council needed to be more robust with sanctions to prevent this. 

“Option four with amendments is the best option,” said another participant, adding that there needed to be strict conditions such as timeframes and limited tasks. 

A youth council member from Al Khums highlighted the need for transitional justice, reparations and fact finding, saying that very little has been achieved on national reconciliation. Without this, they said, the country would be unable to move forward. 

“Preventing hate speech and educating the public to build a political culture should be something that UNSMIL focuses on in partnership with the media,” said another participant, with others agreeing that hate speech has a damaging effect on society and political discussion. 

All participants were encouraged to complete UNSMIL’s poll requesting formal feedback from the public on the political process to ensure that their voices were heard. 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).