War-torn Libya's political forces have voted in favour of a procedure to pick a transitional government that will steer the country to elections slated for December, the United Nations support mission said in a statement on Tuesday.
A total 51 out of 72 Libyan Political Dialogue Forum members voted in favour of the mechanism agreed by an LPDF advisory panel in Geneva last week - almost 73% of the votes cast and well in excess of the 63% threshold set by the panel - the UNSMIL statement said.
Nineteen LPDF members voted against the mechanism in Tuesday's ballot, two members abstained and two others did not engage in the process, according to the statement.
Under the mechanism, each of Libya's three main region's electoral college names a representative to a three-member presidential council. A prime minister is to be chosen by the LPDF, with the successful nominee requiring 70% of votes.
UNSMIL "commends the LPDF members who engaged in the voting process for their commitment to the UN facilitated intra- Libyan dialogue, and for upholding their responsibilities before the Libyan people," said Tuesday's statement.
"Today marks the first anniversary of the Berlin International Conference on Libya," the UN's acting envoy for Libya Stephanie Williams said.
At the conference held on 19 January 2020 in the German capital, world powers vowed to uphold a much-violated UN arms embargo against Libya and to stop foreign interference in the country's internal affairs.
"Libyans have now a genuine opportunity to move past their differences and divisions, select a temporary government to reunify their institutions through the long awaited democratic national elections, which will take place on 24 December 2021," Williams said.
Tuesday's LPDF vote represented "a significant step forward towards the implementation of the Roadmap adopted in Tunis in mid-November," Williams added.
At the Tunis conference, LPDF members reached preliminary agreement on a path to "free, fair, inclusive and credible parliamentary and presidential elections" within 18 months and steps to unite Libya's institutions, Williams stated on 11 November.
