Hard to hold Libya poll on Dec.10: UN
Tripoli also faces logistical problems after a deadly suicide attack severely damaged electoral commission HQ: Saleem
TRIPOLI: The UN envoy to Libya said that it will be dificult to hold elections as hoped on dec .10, following a new wave of ighting in the North African nation.
“There is still a lot to do. It may not be possible to respect the date of Dec.10,” Ghassan Salame said in an interview.
Rival Libyan leaders agreed to a Paris-brokered deal in May to hold a nationwide election by the end of the year.
But Salame said that the polls may not be organised before three or four months.
“We can hold elections in the near future, yes. But certainly not now,” he added in the interview on Saturday evening at the heavily fortiied UN mission in Tripoli.
Clashes between militias in suburbs of the capital have left more than 100 people dead since late August.
Libya remains divided between the Un-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) based in Tripoli and a rival administration in the east that enjoys support from Egypt and Russia.
The GNA was set up under a 2015 Un-brokered deal that raised hopes of an easing of the chaos that followed the 2011 Nato-backed armed uprising which ousted Libyan leader Muammer Qadhai.
Salame said the hopes of holding polls in December were made more “dificult” by the delayed adoption of the electoral law, which inally happened last week.
LOGISTICAL PROBLEMS
“If everything goes well, the referendum could take place before the end of the year,” but the elections could only be organised in “three to four months” depending on the security situation, the envoy said.
“We still need a parliamentary electoral law and another for the presidential (elections),” said the Lebanese diplomat.
Salame said there were also logistical problems after a deadly suicide attack by Daesh group severely damaged the electoral commission headquarters.
The attack has “greatly delayed” the work of the commission whose ofices would soon be moved, he said. Once it relocates, the commission would launch a new voter registration campaign “in the coming weeks.”
Salame said the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) was helping the GNA to sift through thousands of people — civilian and militia — to be registered as regular security forces.