Libya’s parliament said Friday’s planned presidential election would not go ahead, leaving the internationally backed peace process in chaos and the fate of the interim government in doubt.
The electoral commission proposed pushing back the voting date by a month, confirming a delay that had been widely expected, amid ongoing disputes over the rules, including the eligibility of several divisive major candidates.
Disagreements showed the limitations of a winner-takes-all presidential vote involving candidates viewed as unacceptable in large parts of the country, including the son of Muammar Gaddafi and a military leader who assaulted Tripoli.
At stake is a peace process that had been seen as the best hope in years of bringing an end to the decade of chaos and violence that had engulfed Libya since a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)-backed uprising ousted Gaddafi in 2011.
Very large numbers of Libyans had already registered for voting cards for the election in what politicians on all sides in Libya have said is a sign of strong popular desire for a vote.
However, with mobilisations in Tripoli and other western areas by armed groups, the collapse of the electoral process risks aggravating local disputes and triggering a new round of fighting.
Disputes over the path forward could also undo the wider United Nations (U.N).-backed peace process between Libya’s main eastern and western camps that have maintained a ceasefire since last year.
Some figures in the east have warned of a new breakaway government that would return Libya to the division between warring administrations that lasted from the last election in 2014 until the installation of the current interim government.
Factions, candidates and foreign powers have been talking behind the scenes about whether an election can still take place with a short delay or whether a longer postponement is necessary to reach agreement on the legal basis of the vote.
U.N. special adviser, Stephanie Williams, said on social media she had been meeting members of the political forum that set the electoral process in train last year and reiterated the need for “free, fair and credible elections”.
Meanwhile, the status of the interim government that was installed in March as part of the same peace process is also at risk, with the eastern-based parliament having withdrawn confidence from it in September. -Reuters
