Libya cannot be governed by “military rule” if it is to advance on the road to democracy, head of Presidency Council (PC) Faiez Sarraj said Saturday.
Holding municipal elections will pave the way for achieving democracy, Sarraj added during a meeting with the National Association for Municipalities.
Commander of the Libyan National Army Khalifa Haftar is supported by the House of Representatives and a rival government known as the Tobruk government. All are based in the east, while Sarraj is based in Tripoli.
The Government of National Accord, whose prime minister is Sarraj, fears Haftar’s “political ambition,” especially that the army strongman has been able to defeat terrorists in several major locations across Libya. It is not confirmed whether he would support the upcoming elections.
Meanwhile, Sarraj vowed that his government is committed to implement security arrangements and provide basic services across Libya, and to work towards building a united military institution under a civilian authority. He emphasized that terrorists’ attempts to undermine security will not weaken the efforts exerted to stabilize Libya.
The Libyan Central Committee for the Municipal Councils Elections (CCMCE) announced opening the door for voter registration in December in preparation for the upcoming elections whose exact date has yet been revealed in the divided nation.
So far, about 789,297 Libyans have registered to vote in the upcoming municipal elections across 68 Libyan municipalities, the CCMCE announced in early January.
The committee’s program consists of three main stages; the first is to start updating existing voter registration in the municipal councils, whose mandate has expired, in addition to the newly established ones, bringing the total to 71 municipalities.
The second stage includes the completion of electoral lists in accordance to the laws governing this process, opening the door for candidates to apply.
In the third stage of the program, the committee will announce the initial and final lists of candidates, and set timelines for election campaigns until the polling
