The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) issued on Tuesday a clarification regarding the media reports circulating about "allegations of bribery" during the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) meeting in Tunisia last November, citing the report of the UN Panel of Experts (PoE).

In a statement, the UNSMIL confirmed that the (PoE) is an independent and completely separate entity that submits its reports to the Security Council Sanctions Committee, stressing that it does not receive the Committee’s reports, including the last one, therefore cannot comment on it.

It also demanded that any inquiries in this regard be directed to the UN Sanctions Committee.

UNSMIL strongly encouraged in its statement the House of Representatives (HoR) to meet as scheduled in the city of Sirte on March 8, to discuss the vote on granting confidence in the government formation that will be proposed by the Prime Minister-designate Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah.

It also said that its call for a parliament session to give confidence to the government came after consultations with its international partners and in line with the growing public demand for the urgent need to form a unified government to meet the most urgent needs and facilitate the holding of national elections in December 2021, encouraging the Prime Minister-designate to present the cabinet formation quickly.

In the meantime, Agence France-Presse quoted extracts from the PoE report, which confirmed that the votes of at least three participants in the forum were purchased.

Earlier, 25 MPs had proposed to the Presidency Council to address the United Nations and request a copy of the report of the PoE, before the session of discussion of granting confidence to the proposed government, and postponing the date of the session until the truth of the matter becomes clear.