Stephanie Williams at the consultative meetings: Cooperation between the House of Representatives and the High Council of state has seen an unprecedented level and has reached a critical stage from a long and arduous path.

 Geneva, 28 June 2022 (Lana) UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Libya Stephanie Williams expressed gratitude to the House of Representatives and the High Council of State for accepting her invitation to hold consultative meetings between Ageela Saleh and Khaled Al-Mashri at the UN Palace in Geneva."

   Speaking at the meetings that began earlier today, Stephanie said that your presence here today is proof of your responsible leadership, and I would like to express my gratitude to you for accepting my invitation to this meeting shortly after the conclusion of the third and final round of consultations in Cairo.

Stephanie expressed her gratitude to the Swiss government, which once again reaffirms its friendship with the United Nations and Libya by hosting us generously despite time constraints.

The UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Libya explained that the joint commission conducted extensive deliberations and a detailed review of the draft constitution, resolved differences and reached consensus on important issues.

For the first time since the constituent Assembly adopted the drafting of the constitution in 2017, the House of Representatives and the High Council of State engaged in a serious study and review of the draft constitution, and the two houses agreed on very important elements, guarantees and indispensable means of security for national elections, thereby ending Libya’s cycle of transition and interim periods. It is a commendable achievement, the task has been daunting, she said.

The UN Envoy stressed that ‘our meetings today to discuss a final and similarly important matter remained stuck during the consultations in Cairo, and requires the presidencies of the two chambers to reach consensus, and this is transitional measures that include the dates, modalities and key stages to ensure a clear path to hold national elections as soon as possible, through joint action and a consensus outcome.

 Williams described the cooperation between the HoR and the High Council of State as having witnessed an unprecedented level and that they have now reached a critical stage from a long and arduous road. Stressing that now is the time to make a last ditch effort and a courageous decision to ensure a historic consensus for Libya.

=Lana=