The Head of the High Council of State, Khalid Al-Mishri, withdrew Thursday his candidacy for the new Presidential Council of the unified executive authority, which is being selected by the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) in Geneva under the auspices of the UN Support Mission (UNSMIL).

Al-Mishri said he pulled out from the process to allow "a bigger accord", vowing in a video statement to double efforts to provide the needed support to hold elections on December 24, 2021 as per the LPDF's roadmap.

Meanwhile, sources close to LPDF said there was a mutual rejection between Al-Mishri and the Speaker of the Tobruk-based House of Representatives, Aqila Saleh, to be in one list as they had gotten the most votes from east and west electoral colleges on Tuesday.

The sources said Al-Mishri's withdrawal paves the way for Osama Juwaili to be in the list instead, saying the under-preparation list includes Saleh as Head of Presidential Council, Juwaili as a west region deputy and Abdelmajid Saif Al-Nasser as south region deputy, in addition to Fathi Bashagha as the Prime Minister.

UNSMIL reiterated that the lists for the next round of election should be presented no later than 10.00 pm Geneva time on Thursday, saying a new round would be held Friday.