Open Letter from Dr Aref Ali Nayed, Chairman of Ihya_Libya (Reviving Libya) to UN Secretary General, H.E. @antonioguterres, calling for a nationwide referendum on the constitutional basis for Libya.
October 12, 2020
H.E. Mr. António Guterres
Secretary General
United Nations
Your Excellency, greetings, and respects!
Proposal for a Libyan ‘Foundational Referendum’
Through Ranked-Choice Voting Between 5 Options
Further to our letters of June 29 and August 24, and in light of the UNSMIL Statement on the resumption of intra-Libyan political and military talks (October 10), we respectfully propose the following:
Rather than creating yet another unelected government, the UNSMIL-facilitated ‘Libyan Dialogue’ should return to the only true source of legitimacy; The sovereign choice of the Libyan people, as per the principle of self-determination enshrined in the UN’s General Charter.
Presidential and/or Parliamentarian elections to which the Libyan people are most solemnly and urgently entitled can only be conducted on a solid constitutional basis agreed to by the Libyan people.
Since there is currently no consensus on such a constitutional basis, and to avoid dangerous disagreements and fragmentations, we propose that the UN organizes and monitors a nation-wide Referendum.
Such a ‘Libyan Foundational Referendum’ (LFR), can use ‘Ranked-Choice Voting’ to ask Libyan citizens to each rank his/her preferences amongst Libya’s five historical foundational documents as options:
(1) The Constitution of 1951.
(2) The Constitution of 1951, as amended in 1963.
(3) The Declaration of People’s Authority of 1977.
(4) The Constitutional Declaration of 2011, with February Committee Outputs, and Decree 5/2014.
(5) The Constitutional Draft of 2017.
Presidential and/or Parliamentarian elections can then be held on the basis ranked highest by the Libyan people, within 3 months of the announcement of the Referendum results.
The Elections Commission has been ready to conduct Referenda and Elections for many months, but has been deliberately deprived of funds. To avoid such monitory manipulation, the UN can temporarily fund the Referendum and Elections, on the understanding that the funds will be returned after a proper government of Libya takes office.
As for Security of the Referendum and then Elections, each of the GNA and LNA can protect voting in areas currently under their respective control, with UN monitoring.
The Libyan people can thus freely choose their constitutional basis in around 3 months’ time, and then choose their leadership in another 3 months’ time.
Libya can then have a truly legitimate government, with both local and international legitimacy within no more than 6 months. The ‘sui generis’ situation in which Libya has been forcibly put since 2011 can then rightly end. The abuse of the ‘status quo’ ruling class can then also end.
Frankly, for the Libyan people to be forced to submit to another unelected ‘transitional’ or ‘preparatory’ government, that may repeat the GNA’s overstaying by multiple years, is unfair and violates the very basic principles of the UN’s General Charter.
No ‘Libyan Dialogue’ can provide authentic local legitimacy. The best task for such ‘Libyan Dialogue’ is to organize a Foundational Referendum soonest, with the facilitation and support of UNSMIL, the UN Security Council, and all UN Member States. This is the best way to implement the outcomes of the Berlin conference, and to give Libyans their sovereignty back.
Thank you very much, Your Excellency for your kind consideration. I
would be very pleased to discuss our proposal, with you or your esteemed Envoy, at your convenience.
Best regards.
Aref Ali Nayed,
Chairman, Ihya Libya (Reviving Libya)
