The agreement at the meeting in Tunisia’s capital paves the way for a roadmap for “free, fair, inclusive” elections in 18 months.
Libya’s warring sides have agreed to hold elections within 18 months, the United Nations said, hailing a “breakthrough” in a difficult peace process.
“There is a real dynamic, and that is what we need to focus on and encourage,” said Stephanie Williams, the acting Libyan envoy to the United Nations, at a press conference in Tunis on Wednesday, attended by 75 Libyan participants selected by the global panel since Monday to meet.
The meeting reached tentative agreement on a roadmap for “free, fair, inclusive and credible parliamentary and presidential elections,” including steps to unite institutions, she added.
Libya, a major oil producer, has been ravaged by violence since a NATO-backed uprising in 2011, toppling and killing longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi.
Since then, the North African country has been dominated by armed groups ravaged by local conflicts and divided between two bitterly opposed governments: Tripoli, the UN-recognized government of the National Agreement (GNA) led by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj and a rival administration in the east, linked to the renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar, leader of the Libyan National Army (LNA).
Since foreign powers are also using weapons and mercenaries, many Libyans remain skeptical of the peace efforts. However, the Tunis talks follow a ceasefire that the GNA and LNA agreed in Geneva last month.
On Thursday, a joint military commission they set up in the flashpoint town of Sirte to work out the details of the ceasefire will consider adopting proposals for both sides to withdraw from the front lines.
Talks in Tunis on Thursday will focus on a new transitional unified government to oversee the preparations for the elections. Participants discuss their “privileges and competencies,” said Williams.
The new administration needs to quickly address deteriorating public services and corruption, two issues that sparked protests on both sides of the front this summer, she added.
The roadmap also outlines steps to initiate a process of national reconciliation and transitional justice and address the plight of displaced people, Williams said.
She added that the assassination of dissident lawyer Hanan al-Barassi on Tuesday in Benghazi “reminds us of the need for Libyans to really end this long period of crisis, division, fragmentation and impunity”.
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