Libya’s parliament announced on Wednesday, December 22, that it would be “impossible” to hold the long-awaited presidential vote in two days as planned, a delay that could potentially threaten to further destabilize the oil-rich North African nation, which has struggled with division and violence since the revolution that toppled and killed former dictator Mouammar Kadhafi.
The head of the High National Electoral Commission (HNEC), Imad al-Sayeh, has ordered the dissolution of electoral committees throughout the country, effectively postponing the presidential election, originally scheduled for December 24.
Al-Hadi al-Sagheir, chairman of the electoral committee tasked with following the election process, informed Parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh through a letter that “it is impossible to hold the election on December 24 as scheduled.”
Al-Sagheir did not specify whether another date had been set for the voting, or if it had been canceled altogether.
The country’s election commission disbanded electoral committees late Tuesday, failing to publish a final list of candidates as it was supposed to.
There has been no comment yet from Libya’s President, Mohammad Younes Menfi, who is currently in Cairo for a meeting with his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
As a result of these last-minute decisions, the outcome of Friday’s election was already uncertain, since there was no official list of candidates made public and no formal campaigning had started.
Throughout the electoral process, clashes have raged over fundamental rules concerning the election process, such as the voting timetable, the eligibility of major candidates, and the constitutional authority of the next president and parliament.
Earlier this month, the High State Council (HSC) called for the presidential election to be delayed to February. The advisory body, which was established by a 2015 peace agreement, requested a delay in a statement issued less than three weeks before the vote.
Libya’s UN peace process, which was considered as the most promising prospect of putting an end to chronic instability and violence throughout the country, could be derailed by disputes over the election’s legal basis, date, and qualifications of the candidates.
Several factions have warned that a delay to the vote may lead to their withdrawal from the political process altogether.
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