Libya’s UN Envoy: Crisis Requires Politics, Not Legal Fixes

Libya’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Taher El-Sonni, has warned the Security Council that the country is at a defining moment, insisting that only a genuine political settlement and reconciliation can resolve the crisis.

Addressing the Council, El-Sonni cautioned that Libyans remain sceptical of new international initiatives, given repeated failures in the past. He stressed that the root of Libya’s turmoil is not legal but political, and has been made worse by years of damaging foreign interference.

“Libya’s crisis is not legal but profoundly political, and it has only deepened with external meddling,” he said. “There will be no solution unless efforts are directed towards a comprehensive political settlement and genuine reconciliation that ends division and outside intervention.”

The ambassador criticised the Council’s silence over the failure to complete municipal elections, warning that it sends a “negative signal” about international commitment to any future electoral process in Libya.

He further highlighted the dangers of parallel public spending by rival institutions, which, he argued, entrenches financial duplication, fuels corruption, and squanders public funds.

Calling for tangible international backing, El-Sonni urged the Security Council to support the Presidential Council and the Government of National Unity in extending security, reasserting state authority, and dismantling armed groups operating beyond the rule of law.