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The decision of the Libyan Electoral Commission once again leaves the African country in political chaos and casts doubt on the fate of the interim government. The reason: differences between the political and judicial powers related to the candidacies.
“After consulting the technical, judicial and security reports, we reported the impossibility of holding the elections on the date of December 24, 2021,” the president of the Libyan electoral commission, Imad al Sayeh, announced in a letter about the elections. presidential and legislative elections that were to be held this Friday, December 24.
The electoral commission proposed to delay the voting date by one month, confirming a delay that had been widely expected amid disputes over the rules, the powers of the elected president, and the eligibility of various candidates, some of them deemed largely unacceptable. of the country, such as Saif al Islam, the son of the former dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi.
In a statement, the High National Electoral Commission (HNEC) announced a new date for the vote. “After discussions with Parliament, the High Electoral Commission proposes the postponement of the first round of the election to January 24, 2022. Parliament will be in charge of adopting the necessary measures to overcome obstacles in the electoral process.”
Libyans’ desire to vote was demonstrated by the large number of people who had already registered for the elections on December 24.
Now, with the announced postponement, a UN-backed peace process that had been seen as hope to end a decade of violence in Libya since the overthrow of Gaddafi in 2011 is at stake.
The UN special adviser, Stephanie Williams, assured on social networks that she had met with members of the political forum that launched the electoral process in 2020 and reiterated the need to carry out “free, fair and credible elections.”
Candidates accused of crimes against humanity on the ballot
Rumors began last November of a postponement of the presidential and legislative elections in Libya, after the electoral commission rejected the candidacies of Saif to Islam, the military leader Khalifa Haftar and the interim prime minister, Abdelhamid Debaibah.
However, the three candidates appealed the decision and their candidacies were reinstated on the grounds of the Justice that all were eligible, despite the fact that two of them were convicted of crimes against humanity in the past.
Now, with the collapse of the electoral process, there is a risk that local disputes will escalate and a series of confrontations will be triggered by armed groups. In fact, some representatives of Libyan society have warned about the creation of a new separatist government that would return the country to the administrative divisions that lasted from the last elections in 2014 until the installation of the current interim government.
The elections are seen as a new beginning for Libya, devastated by the military conflict since the overthrow of Gaddafi, one of the events that marked the beginning of the revolts of the so-called “Arab Spring”.
With Reuters and EFE
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