What's In Blue

Libya: Vote on a Draft Resolution Extending UNSMIL’s Mandate*

Tomorrow morning (31 October), the Security Council is expected to vote on a draft resolution extending the mandate of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) for three months, until 31 January 2025, with a “further automatic extension” of an additional nine months, until 31 October 2025, if a new Special Representative and Head of UNSMIL has been appointed by 31 January 2025. The draft text in blue maintains UNSMIL’s core mandated tasks, as set out in resolution 2542 of 15 September 2020 and paragraph 16 of resolution 2570 of 16 April 2021.

Background

The political impasse in Libya continues between the UN-recognised Government of National Unity (GNU), based in Tripoli and led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah with advisory support from the High State Council (HSC), and the eastern-based Government of National Stability (GNS), which splintered from the GNU and is led by Prime Minister Osama Hamad and backed by the House of Representatives (HoR) and the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) under the command of General Khalifa Haftar. The Secretary-General’s most recent report on UNSMIL, dated 8 August and covering events since 9 April, says that the parties have not achieved any progress in resolving disagreements about proposed electoral legislation that would allow national elections to be held and reconcile the country’s divided government. Among other issues, a key point of contention concerns the formation of a unified interim government to organise the elections, a move favoured by the GNS and HoR but opposed by the GNU and some segments of the HSC. The prolonged stalemate between the rival governments—which has persisted since the indefinite postponement of the 2021 elections—is a root cause of Libya’s political, security, and economic instability.

Between September 2021 and October 2022, the Security Council extended UNSMIL’s mandate four times through three-month technical rollovers. (The term “technical rollover” is commonly used by diplomats to describe a concise resolution extending a peace operation’s mandate without altering its core mandate or tasks. It traditionally denotes an extension for a shorter period than is customary.) The short-term extensions were prompted by disagreements among Council members on several issues, including opposition from Russia to renewing the mission’s mandate for a full year until the Secretary-General had appointed a successor to Special Envoy and Head of UNSMIL Ján Kubiš of Slovakia, who had stepped down in December 2021. In September 2022, the Secretary-General appointed Abdoulaye Bathily of Senegal as Special Representative and Head of UNSMIL, after resolution 2629 of 29 April 2022 had changed UNSMIL’s leadership position from a Special Envoy to a Special Representative. The Council subsequently renewed the mission’s mandate for one year through resolution 2656 of 28 October 2022 and then again through resolution 2702 of 30 October 2023.

While Bathily sought to facilitate agreement among Libyan actors on a new roadmap for national elections to unify the country’s divided government, the parties continued to clash on proposed legislation that would define the parameters of the elections. In his 16 April briefing to the Council, Bathily said that Libyan leaders had responded to his mediation efforts with “stubborn resistance, unreasonable expectations, and indifference to the interests of the Libyan people”, and he called for an end to the “selfish resolve of current leaders to maintain the status quo through delaying tactics and maneuvers”. At a press conference following the briefing, Bathily confirmed that he had submitted his resignation to Secretary-General António Guterres, adding that “there is no way the UN can operate successfully” in Libya under the current circumstances. Since then, UNSMIL has been led by Deputy Special Representative and Political Officer in Charge Stephanie Koury of the US.

During the Council’s most recent briefing on Libya, held on 9 October, Russia expressed support for UNSMIL’s mandate but said that it could not agree to extend it for “a long period” without “a proper Council-approved new leader” and called on the Secretary-General to propose new candidates “in the very near future”.

Negotiations on the Draft Resolution

Against this backdrop, Council negotiations to renew UNSMIL’s mandate were difficult. The UK, the penholder on Libya, circulated an initial draft of the text on 14 October and convened one round of negotiations on 17 October. The penholder then circulated a revised draft on 21 October and invited comments until 23 October. On 24 October, the UK circulated a second revised draft and placed it under silence procedure until 25 October. China and Russia subsequently broke silence. The penholder then put a third revised draft under silence procedure until Monday (28 October), but Russia again broke silence. This morning (30 October), after holding bilateral discussions with Russia, the UK placed a fourth revised draft under silence until 12:00 PM. That draft passed silence and was subsequently put in blue.

It seems that the UK’s initial draft text renewed UNSMIL’s mandate for one year, retained the mission’s core tasks, and updated some language primarily to reflect recent political, security, and humanitarian developments in Libya, based on previously agreed language from press statements issued by Council members on 6 May, 28 August, and 9 October. (For more information on those developments, see the brief on Libya in our October 2024 Monthly Forecast.) Most Council members apparently agreed with this approach.

It seems that Russia opposed the proposed length of the renewal, however, reiterating its position against extending the mandate for a full year in the absence of a Special Representative. Russia instead advocated for a three-month technical roll-over, apparently referring to the short-term extensions that the Council adopted in 2021 and 2022 as a precedent. The UK and several other Council members argued that a one-year renewal was crucial to maintain the necessary conditions for the mission to fulfil its mandate and ensure the predictability and sustainability of its work. The UK therefore retained this mandate length in both the first and second revised drafts, the latter of which it placed under silence procedure, which Russia broke. The third revised draft reduced the renewal period to nine months, but Russia broke silence again, insisting on a three-month extension. In an apparent compromise, following bilateral consultations between Russia and the UK, the draft resolution in blue extends UNSMIL’s mandate for three months, until 31 January 2025, with a “further automatic extension” of an additional nine months, until 31 October 2025, if a Special Representative has been appointed by 31 January 2025.

Another issue during the negotiations concerned a proposed strategic review of UNSMIL. The UK’s initial draft apparently requested the Secretary-General to submit to the Council, by 30 September 2025, an independent strategic review of the mission that would include recommendations for increasing the efficiency of UNSMIL’s overall mission structure “with a focus on expanding the Mission’s footprint and operations in eastern Libya”. It seems that China opposed this provision, arguing that UNSMIL’s current structure was appropriate for its mandate and that no major developments had occurred in the country that would warrant a review, as had been the case for the previous review requested by resolution 2542 following the signing of the 2020 ceasefire agreement. China apparently broke silence on the second revised draft for this reason. In another apparent compromise, the draft resolution in blue retains the request but no longer calls for the review to be independent, specifies that it is to be conducted within existing resources, and directs it to focus on achieving an effective mission presence “across Libya” rather than in any specific region.

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Post-script: On 31 October, the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2755, extending the mandate of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) for three months, until 31 January 2025, with a “further automatic extension” of an additional nine months, until 31 October 2025, if a new Special Representative and Head of UNSMIL has been appointed by 31 January 2025.

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