More support needs to be provided for Libyan municipalities, Stephanie Williams, deputy special representative of the U.N. Secretary General for political affairs in Libya said Sunday.
Municipal support should be prioritized especially in southern Libya, she added after a Tripoli meeting with the Minister of Local Governance in the Government of National Accord (GNA), Milad el-Taher.
“Williams discussed with GNA Minister of Local Governance Milad El-Taher cooperation aspects, to strengthen roles of municipalities and local authorities. She emphasized the need to support municipalities, especially in the South,” the U.N. Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said on Twitter.
Earlier, the U.N. envoy called for the amendment of Law 59 on the organization of local governance and the role of municipalities, and demanded the increase of municipal budgets.
She expressed the U.N.’s full support for voter registration and preparations for local elections to be held in March.
Libya has more than 100 municipalities representing different cities and regions of the country.
The mandate has ended for the current municipal councils elected in 2014. The municipal council election law requires a four-year non-renewable term.
The move towards local governance emerged during the 2011 revolution when local councils arose to handle city affairs, an arrangement that continues today.
Believing that managing the country on the local level can be more effective than working on the national level, the General National Congress (GNC) passed the local administration law in 2012 to reorganize the distribution of authority by dividing the country into governorates and municipalities.
Today, under this law (59/2012), over 100 municipality councils are responsible for everyday needs.
