UN envoy regrets lack of progress on Libya political roadmap

Alsharq Tribune-Ahmed Essam 

The top UN envoy for Libya on Wednesday regretted the lack of progress in the political roadmap that would lead to general elections and unified state institutions in Libya.

"We are not where we would like to be in terms of progress on the roadmap," Hanna Tetteh, the UN secretary-general's special representative for Libya and head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), said at a UN Security Council briefing.

"Some Libyan actors continue to disregard the expectations of the public regarding their participation in political processes, or toward exercising political leadership based on democratic legitimacy. Parallel structures have been established outside of the framework of existing agreements, which can limit the effectiveness of the UNSMIL process aimed at institutional reunification and establishing democratic legitimacy for political leadership," she said.

Conducting business as usual under the current circumstances inadvertently legitimizes the status quo rather than incentivizing serious negotiations and encouraging the necessary compromises to reunify the country. There are both national and regional risks to any continued inaction and foot-dragging on the implementation of the roadmap, Tetteh warned.

She called on the Security Council to leverage its collective influence to ensure Libyan leaders fulfill their obligations to unify institutions and work toward the holding of national elections.

"Allowing status quo actors to evade their responsibilities will only undermine efforts to preserve Libya's unity and wealth and delay the path to sustained peace, stability and development," she warned.

Tetteh unveiled the political roadmap in August 2025, which is built around three core pillars: the implementation of a technically sound and politically viable electoral framework aimed at holding presidential and legislative elections, unifying institutions through a new unified government, and a Structured Dialogue that enables broad participation of Libyans to address critical issues.