UNITED NATIONS, June 25 (NNN-XINHUA) — Libya’s UN ambassador Taher El-Sonni expressed frustration over the lack of a UN roadmap for a political process in his country.
After a briefing to the Security Council by the UN secretary-general’s special representative for Libya, Hanna Tetteh, the Libyan ambassador said there is nothing new in her lengthy presentation.
“While we welcome Madamme Tetteh’s efforts along with her team to find practical solutions to overcome the current political impasse, however, we cannot disguise the truth that until now there is no political plan and there is no clear roadmap that was offered to the Libyans,” El-Sonni told the Security Council.
“The Libyans are still waiting for this from you at a faster pace,” he said, noting that Libyans have expected a roadmap from Tetteh at Tuesday’s Security Council meeting.
Tetteh told the council that she would present a roadmap for the political process in Libya in her next briefing, probably in August.
Tetteh recognized Libyans’ aspirations for the announcement of a roadmap on Tuesday in light of the political tensions, but said there is a need to go through “a consultative process.”
El-Sonni said that would mean almost a year and a half with the absence of a real political process in Libya.
He noted that former special representative Abdoulaye Bathily resigned in April 2024 and nine months had passed when Tetteh stepped in as his successor in February 2025. Now the plan will be submitted in August, which does not even mean the launch of the process.
“And if we were to count the months, we are talking about almost a year and a half with the absence of a real political process in Libya. I don’t think the situation in Libya can tolerate this,” he said. “We understand the challenges. However, it is urgent.”
The Libyan ambassador clarified that his words were not simply directed to Tetteh, but to the United Nations and to the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).
“This is not an institutional factor for us to spend over a year and a half being held hostage as we await the appointment of representatives and then witness the continued absence of practical solutions. This is the collective responsibility upon everyone, including this (Security) Council,” he said.
The UN mission in Libya suffered leadership hiatuses after the successive resignations of the top UN envoys before Tetteh. The Security Council also failed to find consensus on substantive renewals of UNSMIL’s mandate during 2021-2022. — NNN-XINHUA
