Libya to commence registration for election candidates
Electoral authorities in Libya are set to start registration for candidates in elections backed by the United Nations.
In
a statement on Sunday, Libya’s High National Elections Commission says it will
open registration on Monday for candidates in presidential and parliamentary
elections that have been mandated by a United Nations-backed roadmap on
December 24.
Registration
for presidential election candidates would be open until November 22 and for
parliamentary candidates until December 7, the election commission chairman
Emad al Sayeh said on Sunday.
Potential
candidates include warlord Khalifa Haftar, the commander of eastern-based
militia in the civil war; Saif al Islam Gaddafi, the son of the former
dictator; the parliament head Aguila Saleh; and a former interior minister,
Fathi Bashagha.
Sayeh, who had previously said
parliamentary elections would take place within 30 days of the presidential
election, said the commission had received amendments to the law from the
parliament.
Wrangling
over the legal basis for the election, as well as its date and qualifications
for candidates, has threatened to derail a peace process that was seen as
Libya's best hope in years of ending chronic instability and violence.
The UN peace process also led to
the installation of an interim unity government and installed Abdulhamid al
Dbeibah as prime minister.
He and others in the government
swore not to run in any December election but analysts say he may consider
doing so anyway.
An election law proposed by the
parliament in September was rejected by the bodies' critics, including other
political entities, for breaching some conditions set by the UN road-map.
The law set a first round of the
presidential election in December but said the date for parliamentary elections
would not be set until January.
After 2014, two rival seats of
power emerged in Libya, and government forces constantly fought rebel
militia aiming to overtake territory.
Foreign countries also dispatched
troops and mercenaries to the country. The UN said in December last year
that there were about 20,000 foreign troops and mercenaries helping the
opposing sides in Libya.
Under a UN-backed ceasefire
signed in October last year, foreign troops and mercenaries were to pull out of
Libya within three months.
