The Libyan parliamentary committee tasked with overseeing the electoral process on Wednesday said that it was impossible to hold the first round of the presidential election on Friday, as originally scheduled, reported Africa News. The announcement, which was widely expected, is the first official statement that the vote will be postponed.
“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, the chairman of the committee, wrote on Wednesday to the head of parliament.
The High National Election Commission said the inadequacy of electoral legislation was the main obstruction to the vote taking place as scheduled. It suggested that presidential polls should take place on January 24.
“The High National Electoral Commission suggests, after liaising with the House of Representatives, that the first round of voting should be delayed until January 24,” the HNEC said in a statement on Facebook.
The Libyan electoral body said that the parliament will adopt the necessary measures to remove the obstacles to the electoral process.
The December 24 election was expected to mark the end of the political turmoil in the North African country.
Among those who registered to run for president are Khalifa Haftar, the military strongman who controls eastern Libya, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, the prime minister of the unity government, and Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi, son of the overthrown dictator Muammar al-Ghadafi.
The Libyan electoral commission had rejected Col Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam’s candidacy, but his lawyer said a court had overturned its decision.
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.
The delay in the election is feared to undo the peace process between Libya’s main eastern and western camps that have maintained a cease-fire since last year.
