United Nations, November 24 (BNA) A United Nations spokesman said on Tuesday that the United Nations mediator in Libya, Jan Kubis, will step down less than a year after taking office, and a month before the scheduled elections in the country.
Diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the United Nations was unofficially proposing veteran British diplomat Nicholas Kay as an alternative. The 15-nation Security Council, which works unanimously, must approve a new appointment, Reuters reports.
Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres accepted Kubis’ resignation “with regret.” When asked when Kubis will be leaving, Dujarric said: “Mr Kubis has made it clear he won’t shut the door today.”
“He, more than anyone else, does not want to destabilize the mission in any way, shape, or form,” he said.
“The Secretary-General is working on a suitable replacement. We are fully aware of the election schedule and are working as quickly as possible to ensure continuity of leadership,” Dujarric said.
Kubis is a former foreign minister of Slovakia and has also served as the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon and the United Nations Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Iraq. The Security Council approved his appointment as mediator for Libya in January to replace Ghassan Salame, who resigned in March 2020 due to stress.
It was not immediately clear why Kubis was stepping down. Dujarric said the resignation “wasn’t a complete surprise,” but gave no other details.
Libya descended into chaos after the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi’s NATO-backed dictatorship in 2011. In October last year, the two main sides in the Libyan war – the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) and the Libyan National Army (LNA) east of Khalifa Haftar – agreed on a ceasefire. .
A UN political forum last year called for parliamentary and presidential elections to be held on December 24 as part of a roadmap to end the civil war in Libya. However, disagreements over the planned vote threaten to derail the peace process.
The first round of presidential voting is scheduled to take place on December 24, while the parliamentary elections have been postponed to January or February. However, the rules for the elections have not yet been agreed upon.