Al Jazeera :
Libya’s electoral board has suggested that this week’s presidential election should be postponed by a month to January 24.
The statement by the High National Electoral Commission (HNEC) on Wednesday came after a parliamentary committee tasked with overseeing the electoral process said it was “impossible” to hold the first round of presidential polls on Friday, as originally scheduled.
“After consulting the technical, judicial and security reports, we inform you of the impossibility of holding the elections on the date of December 24, 2021, provided for by the electoral law,” Al Hadi al-Sagheer, chairman of the committee, wrote on Wednesday to the head of parliament. Earlier this week, the head of the HNEC had ordered the dissolution of the electoral committees nationwide, without naming a final list of candidates, in a move that effectively postponed the election.
Reporting from Tripoli, Al Jazeera’s Malik Traina said that while a delay has been widely expected amid a series of challenges, there have been disagreements between the HNEC and the parliamentary committee over who is responsible to make such an announcement. And in its latest statement, Traina, noted, the HNEC was “very clear” in saying that it is the parliament “that has to set the new date in motion”.
Traina further said a postponement would necessarily resolve the issues that have plagued the long-waited election, including Libya’s two legislative sides in the country’s west and east agreeing on a constitutional framework for the vote to proceed.
“That would include who can run for election and what kind of power does a president have – these issues remain unanswered,” he added. “Even if the election is postponed until January, we might see these issues raised all over again.”
The widely expected delay after months of arduous preparations and international negotiations is a big blow to efforts to end 10 years of chaos in the country in the wake of a 2011 revolt that removed longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi.
The election is part of a United Nations-backed plan aimed at restoring stability but without any clear agreement on rules, and with bitter disputes over the eligibility of the main candidates, the process has stalled.
On Tuesday, the UN’s mission in the country voiced concern about the security situation in Tripoli, after rival armed groups deployed in the south of the capital, closing roads using sandbags. Images posted online in the morning showed a tank and pick-up trucks mounted with machine guns in the Fornaj district.
“The current mobilization of forces affiliated with different groups creates tensions and increases the risk of clashes that could spiral into conflict,” the mission, known as UNSMIL said in a statement, adding that all disagreements regarding political matters should be resolved through dialogue.
