By Sami Zaptia.
London, 3 June 2021:
Thirteen women participants of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) have called for the fulfilment of the UN/LPDF Roadmap which prescribes the holding of simultaneous Presidential and Parliamentary elections on 24 December 2021.
They insist on the Libyan people’s right to exercise their democratic right to vote at regular intervals to renew the mandate and legitimacy of their political representatives.
They warn the rest of the 74-member LPDF (selected by UNSMIL) not to use various excuses to obstruct the agreed Roadmap which prescribes elections to be held by the end of this year.
Their statement issued on Tuesday read:
‘‘We, the Libyan women at the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF), declare our adherence to the constants and recommendations contained in our statement issued at the LPDF meeting held in Tunis last November, and we, hereby, affirm, beyond any doubt, our full commitment to the UN Roadmap in its phases, deadlines and commitments.
Our country is going through a historical moment that determines its destiny; either we cross Libya to safety, or its nascent democracy will suffer a serious setback as a result of the disruptive and discouraging practices by some parties that do not feel the grave responsibility entrusted to the Libyan institutions and bodies that we have contributed, with concessions from all, to its reunification.
The minimum for which the Libyan people do not accept an alternative is the renewal of political legitimacy by heading to simultaneous Presidential and Parliamentary elections, in which the Libyan people cast their votes directly through the ballot boxes on the elections’ scheduled date on December 24, 2021.
Delaying or procrastinating the implementation of this entitlement will cause the Libyan people to lose confidence in their officials in general, regardless of their categories and political orientations, and will destroy the principle of respect for pledges and integrity in fulfilling obligations in political work, which must remain an honourable work and a public service, and not positions to achieve personal benefits for some who wish to exercise political guardianship and patriarchy over the citizens of Libya.
All the relevant and serious remarks that some honest voices may raise cannot be exploited and circumvented to impose a reality other than the reality of Libyan citizens heading to the polls and casting their votes. We commend our colleagues, members of the LPDF Legal Committee, who have prepared a serious proposal for a full-fledged constitutional rule that is sufficient to achieve the desired, provided that this proposal accepted like any other human work that accepts development and correction from people of good intentions whose hearts beat with love for the country and feel the suffering of its citizens, men and women.
Accordingly, the Libyan women participating at the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) pledge, before God and the Libyan people, to abide by the outputs of the LPDF Legal Committee represented in the constitutional rule that draws the work map for the High National Elections Commission (HNEC) to reach the entitlement of our people; to exercise their inherent right to cast their votes in direct, free and simultaneous Presidential and Parliamentary elections with the commitment to hold them on December 24 2021 in all parts of Libya, marking the renewal of legitimacy, in accordance with the principles of democracy for which the Libyan people made their enormous sacrifices.
The Libyan women participating in the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum intend, at the next meeting – which was announced by the UN Envoy before the end of next month – to assume their full responsibilities in fortifying the Roadmap and the date set for the elections, if the issuance of the necessary legislation to achieve this national entitlement is disrupted or obstructed.’’
Signatories to the Statement
(1)- Rabea Abdel Rahman Abu Ras
(2)- Umm-el-Ezz Al-Farsi
(3)- Al-Sayyada Al-Yaqoubi
(4)- Lamis Abdel-Majeed Bin Saad
(5)- Mabrouka Al-Gomaty
(6)- Elham Al-Saoudi
(7)- Saltana Masoud Al-Mesmari
(8)- Azza Al-Said
(9)- Khadija Abdel Aali
(10)-Salwa Al-Deghaili
(11)- Amal Bugaigis
(12)- Zahra’ Langhi
(13)- Hajar al-Qayed
