UN-backed Libya talks fail to reach consensus on elections

LPDF discusses constitutional basis for elections but fails to reach agreement after five days of talks.

Libyan delegates have failed to agree on a legal framework to hold presidential and parliamentary elections later this year, the United Nations has said, putting an agreed-upon road map to end the conflict there in jeopardy. The Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF), a 75-member body from all walks of life in Libya, concluded five days of talks in a hotel outside Geneva on Friday, the UN support mission in Libya said on Saturday. Participants in the UN-brokered talks discussed several proposals for a constitutional basis for the elections, including some that were not consistent with the road map that set the vote for December 24. Others sought to establish conditions to hold elections as planned, the mission said.