The head of Libya's Government of National Unity (GNU), Abdul Hamid Dbeiba, has announced that the country's general elections will be held on time, in December 2021. Dbeiba's remarks came on Sunday, during the opening ceremony of the media centre to cover the elections, which are scheduled for 24 December. He said that the interim government will provide all support to protect the elections and prepare a plan that includes the rehabilitation of 30,000 policemen to secure the ballot boxes. These efforts will also work towards ensuring the integrity of the election process, so that they are not tampered with. Dbeiba explained that the government is working to improve citizens' living conditions and raise the performance of security institutions to consolidate security. He called on the Libyan parties to make all possible concessions to make the elections a success, and to give priority to Libya's interest over factional interests Dbeiba indicated that the government had prepared a security plan to secure the elections, stressing on providing support to the Electoral Commission to carry out its work. For his part, Aguila Saleh stressed the organization of the elections on time, because this would provide security and stability in Libya. He also called for organizing the presidential and parliamentary elections simultaneously, hoping that the Electoral Commission would continue its work. Meanwhile, the US ambassador to Libya Richard Norland stressed, during his speech at the opening ceremony, that "the elections will rid Libya of external influences that interfere in its affairs". Imad Al-Sayeh, head of Libya's Electoral Commission, said that it has been decided to start the process of updating the voter register in preparation for the elections. This will also work towards providing the opportunity for those who did not register before or who changed their places of residence. Al-Sayeh called on Libyans to exercise their political rights and participate in the elections, and noted that the option to head towards 24 December is fully prepared. He pointed out that this requires a responsible environment, which is a condition for the commission's implementation of free and fair elections, in reference to the need to approve a constitutional basis for the elections. The UN mission to Libya announced, on Friday evening, that the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF), which is being held in the Swiss city of Geneva, had failed to reach a consensus on a constitutional basis for holding the next elections in the country on schedule. This failure also raised fears of the collapse of the road map that had been agreed upon between the Libyan parties, which ends with the holding of these elections next December, and the faltering of the political process in Libya.
