Libya’s leaders must work together for a long-term political solution: UK statement at the UN Security Council
Statement by Ambassador Barbara Woodward, UK Permanent Representative to the UN, at the UN Security Council meeting on Libya.
President, the past two months have demonstrated the fragility of Libya’s status quo. Unilateral actions by Libyan actors on all sides have threatened the country’s stability. But recent weeks have also shown the ability to find political solutions through serious engagement between Libyan stakeholders.
I’d like to make three points today:
First, we commend DSRSG Koury’s efforts to broker a solution to the Central Bank crisis. We welcome the agreement reached for the appointment of the new governor. It is vital now that the stakeholders swiftly agree a board of directors that is credible, competent and free from political influence. As a unified institution it should also operate transparently.
In addition, we urge all actors to work to rebuild the legitimacy and credibility of the Central Bank, especially with international institutions. We also welcome the resumption of oil production, a vital shared resource for the prosperity and well-being of the Libyan people.
Second, as we heard from briefers, the Central Bank crisis has shown that the status quo is increasingly unstable. Libya needs a long-term settlement, and I heard this consistently from the many Libyan people I met on my visit to Libya last year.
In this regard, we welcome the continued efforts to make progress on the political track, including plans to convene the Security Working Group next week. We support efforts to build closer cooperation and integration between Libya’s military and security actors, in particular to enhance border security and the fight against terrorism.
Third, we remain concerned at the diminishing space for civil society. While we were grateful to hear from a civil society briefer today, we know that civil society face the risk of reprisals for their activities.
We are also concerned at the continued lack of protection of women, restricting their ability to participate in all aspects of Libya’s civil, social, and political space, and I thank Ms Bugaighis for setting this out so clearly for us.
Ensuring a free and safe environment for civil society is essential, to empower everyone to play a role in developing an open, democratic society.
President, in closing, I want to stress our continued support to UNSMIL and DSRSG Koury and her team in supporting Libya in tackling Libya’s immense challenges, and as she said, to move beyond managing the situation to resolving long-standing problems.
We look forward to negotiating the renewal of UNSMIL’s mandate this month and to showing united Council support for UNSMIL’s work to achieve a long-term political solution and to enable elections.
The Secretary General also has our full support in his efforts to appoint a new Special Representative as soon as possible. Finally, we continue to call on all Libya’s leaders to engage in the political process in the spirit of compromise.