Stephanie Williams Arrives in Cairo

The United Nations Secretary-General Special Advisor for Libya Stephanie Williams arrived in Cairo on Saturday, according to Libyan media sources.

The sources added that Williams will hold meetings with a number of Egyptian officials to discuss the latest developments in Libya. She is expected to discuss the Libyan elections which were proposed to be held last December.

Williams's visit comes as part of a foreign tour, including Tunisia into Turkey and she is scheduled to visit the Russian Capital Moscow and other capitals, asking for regional support for the solution of the Libyan crisis.

Notably, the Un Special envoy told the Turkish Anadolu Agency on Saturday that Libya doesn’t need a new transitional government after having five ones over the last years.

She said Libya has been in transition since 2011, adding that it needs now democratically elected institutions and institutions that are united that can provide the necessary security for the population, secure the country’s borders, and provide services to the population, and reiterated that the best way for this to happen is for Libyans to go to the polls.

“Currently, Libyan parliament has formed this roadmap committee, which is in consultation across the country. The report is expected to be submitted to parliament on January 25th, along with the proposals,” the United Nations Secretary-General Special Advisor for Libya explained.

She added that she traveled from east to west of Libya, talking to Libyans and their various views, saying some said that a constitutional basis is needed for the elections to continue, others wanted the draft constitution be put to a referendum, while another group wanted the list of presidential candidates be subjected to some form of judicial oversight in order to open the blockage and go directly to the elections.

“There are people who want to be elected as MPs. So I can say that there is not a single dominant opinion in Libya. There are various views and we are certainly involved in this political process as the United Nations. We understand the complexities of each specific option. It’s Libya’s decision to keep going.” Williams indicated.

Williams remarked that the parties in Libya have a desire to negotiate, saying if there is a political agreement and a desire to negotiate in good faith, whatever option is in front of the parties, then they can move the process forward.

“We have a roadmap agreed by the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum’s roadmap that goes on until June of this year. I believe that a choice is still quite possible in this time frame. This may include different scenarios. But it is possible, and I think it is increasingly important that the Libyan people have a political horizon here.” She stressed.

Williams outlined the “existence of peace and calm on the ground”, saying she doesn’t see any desire among Libyans to return to war at this time, and adding that even the Libyan rhetoric and the way they speak has changed and become political discourse: a civilized rhetoric that replaces war rhetoric.