Foreign Policy magazine said on Wednesday that the resignation of the UN envoy to Libya, Jan Kubis, is a blow to the international community’s efforts to achieve stability in Libya, in addition to leaving a major diplomatic vacuum.
The magazine added that this step came after a number of state leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, US Vice President Kamala Harris and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, pressed for the need to hold fair, inclusive and credible elections next December.
According to the magazine, the expert on North African issues at the American Institute of Peace, Thomas Hill, said in an article that the international community has high hopes for these elections, so it wants them to take place in the best conditions, noting that “Kubiš’s withdrawal from the scene makes things collapse behind the scenes.” The magazine quoted one of the diplomats – who declined to be named – that Kubis’ resignation was after he disagreed with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, over the organization’s approach to the elections.
Foreign Policy expected that the United Nations would be more careful in their selection of the next envoy, in addition to making some revisions and amendments to its plan of action in Libya.
