The British newspaper, “The Guardian”, said that Libya is heading towards elections that carry many risks.
The newspaper’s diplomatic affairs editor, Patrick Wintour, added that this step comes after the Electoral Commission announced the opening of nominations for the presidential elections next November, and the distribution of voting cards within weeks.
The newspaper added, in a report, that Imad al-Sayeh’s announcement aimed at putting some momentum in the movement towards the elections, but he did not specify a date for either of the two rounds of elections, noting that he insisted that the presidential elections will take place in two stages, with the presidential run-off and the parliamentary elections after that, in light of facing “extreme” internal resistance to holding the elections, according to the newspaper.
The newspaper pointed out in its report that the United States and some foreign powers are exerting “enormous” pressure on the Libyan political class. to comply with the election date set on December 24 (or close to it); Because the country will never recover if it is run by “illegitimate administrations.”
The newspaper reported that there is a group of “internal actors” trying to spoil the elections either because they hold power or “really fear elections in a divided country, awash with foreign mercenaries and a fragile ceasefire; Which could lead to violence that engulfs not only the country, but the region.”
The newspaper said that the interim government “maneuvered to avoid holding elections, which forced foreign powers to intervene to stop the “stability conference” organized by the government in Tripoli, which obstructs the elections.”
Member of the Political Dialogue Forum Zahra Lanqi said in a statement to the newspaper: “Yes, there are risks to holding elections, but there are greater risks to not holding them, and the last source of stability in this country will come from democratic legitimacy and reset. Almost a decade has passed without legitimacy, and we ended up with a government run by the corrupt.”
Fadel Al-Amin, the former head of the Libyan American Council, said in a statement to the newspaper, that the early drafts of the stability conference statement were clearly aimed at postponing the elections, unfreezing Libyan assets abroad and handing them over to the interim government, adding that “the stability initiative aimed to put stability first, and thus postpone the elections on the basis is that Libya is not ready for it, and we must move forward with the elections, aware of the consequences of not holding them on the entire region.”
The commission had announced, on Sunday, its plan for the presidential and parliamentary elections to synchronize the two processes in terms of procedures, provided that the date for the election of the president would be set; Based on a proposal from the commission, while the second round of presidential elections coincides with the parliamentary elections in one day, it is expected that nominations will open for them in mid-November.
