Libyan forum urges UN envoy to support inclusive national dialogue

The Libyan Forum for Civilisational and Renaissance Project has called on the United Nations Special Representative to Libya, Hanna Tetteh, to support a comprehensive and inclusive Libyan-led dialogue process.

The Forum stressed that such a process should be facilitated by the UN but not imposed, and must ensure the participation of all national forces and constituencies, including those previously marginalised.

In a statement obtained by Libyan Express, the Forum commented on Tetteh’s recent briefing to the UN Security Council, in which she outlined the mission’s current approach to Libya’s political path. While welcoming the declared objective of holding elections and unifying state institutions, the Forum expressed “deep concern” over the persistence of familiar strategies which, it warned, have repeatedly failed to produce tangible results. It added that public frustration is rising sharply and that disillusionment with the political process has reached unprecedented levels.

The Forum highlighted longstanding challenges relating to the High National Elections Commission (HNEC), recalling that its handling of the 2021 electoral process raised serious concerns over departures from the legal framework and the failure to implement judicial rulings. It argued that these issues are fundamentally political rather than technical, requiring political solutions to remove external pressures on the Commission. The statement further suggested that placing the process under the oversight of the Supreme Court could provide stronger legitimacy.

With regard to political institutions, the Forum warned that the UN mission’s continued reliance on existing bodies as “the shortest path” only deepens the crisis of legitimacy. By granting recognition to institutions widely perceived as unrepresentative, the mission risks reinforcing the belief that international solutions serve narrow interests rather than the broader national good.

The statement also criticised the mission’s tendency to view Libya through the prism of regional fragmentation, cautioning that this approach risks entrenching division and undermining the principle of national unity — a contradiction of the mission’s own stated goals.

The Forum called for a comprehensive review of the UN mission’s methodology and structures to ensure it engages with Libya as a single sovereign state, reflective of its diversity. It urged the mission to re-orient its role towards genuine support and facilitation, focusing on technical assistance, capacity building, and enabling Libyans themselves to reach home-grown solutions.

Finally, the Forum underscored the importance of establishing clear mechanisms to hold accountable those obstructing the political process, alongside robust international guarantees to safeguard any agreements arising from a Libyan-led dialogue against attempts at disruption.