The members of Libya's High State Council voted on Thursday for a constitutional amendment intended to provide a basis for national elections, but the vote's validity was disputed.
Abdoulaye Bitali, the UN envoy to Libya, on Monday told the UN Security Council he would launch an initiative “aimed at enabling the organisation and holding presidential and legislative elections in 2023”.
The elections were originally scheduled for December 2021 but were postponed indefinitely because of differences over candidates and rules on participation.
Libya has been locked in a political stalemate since late 2021 when a scheduled election was cancelled because of disputes over the rules and the eastern parliament, the House of Representatives, withdrew support from the interim government.
Peacemaking efforts since then have focused on getting the House of Representatives and the High State Council to agree on a constitutional basis for elections and on voting rules.
Thursday's vote approved a constitutional amendment that was issued last month by the House of Representatives and was presented as step towards holding elections.
The High State Council's media office said the vote had passed and the amendment had been adopted.
It dismissed a statement by the council's rapporteur saying not enough members had been present for the vote to be legal.
Foreign powers have long indicated that big political changes need the approval of both the House of Representatives and the High State Council, under a 2015 agreement that was intended to establish a short transitional period that would ultimately resolve the conflict.
On Monday, Mr Bathily cited that agreement to say he was setting up a steering committee of major Libyan figures to adopt a time-bound road map to elections.
The Libyan House of Representatives said it is opposed to Mr Bathily initiative, saying that he did not have the mandate to hold political discussions among Libyan parties.
The parliament also accused the UN envoy of failing to be impartial with regard to Libyan parties and accused him of being responsible for disrupting plans to hold elections.
In remarks that appeared aimed at both the House of Representatives, which was elected in 2014, and the High State Council, which emerged from a chamber elected in 2012, he said that “most institutions lost their legitimacy years ago”.
Speaking before it was approved, Mr Bathily also described the amendment as “controversial within the Libyan political class and general citizenry”, noting it did not address contentious issues such as candidate eligibility or create a clear timeline for elections.
