Despite the preparations of the High National Elections Commission, to prepare for the upcoming elections at the end of the year, the file to combat Coronavirus in Libya may hinder these efforts, if the epidemiological situation remains as it is.
This sudden development in the epidemiological situation in Libya came in the daily update issued by the National Center for Disease Control, which revealed a sudden increase in the number of daily infections, reaching 1248, in its statement issued on July 7.
The matter did not stop at the increase in infection, but it called for a visit to the Ras Ajdir crossing by the Minister of Health of the Government of National Unity, Mohammrd Al-Zanati, and the Director General of the National Center for Disease Control, Dr. Badr Al-Din Al-Najjar, and a meeting was held at the Diwaniyah headquarters in the Republic of Tunisia in the presence of the Tunisian Minister of Health and the Governor of the Southern Region The Republic, and the two sides agreed to raise the level of precautionary and preventive measures to limit the spread of the Coronavirus and to review the precautionary measures followed by the Tunisian and Libyan sides for travelers.
With the increase in cases of infection in Libya, Tunisia is witnessing an exceptional situation, after the increase in cases infection, which made the Tunisian Ministry of Health urging citizens to get vaccinated against Coronavirus, as part of awareness efforts to contain the epidemic.
Regarding the preparations or arrangements for the upcoming elections in Libya at the end of the year to prevent the pandemic, no official body in Libya has announced any preventive plans that would ensure that the epidemiological situation does not worsen, and work to create a safe environment for citizens in the upcoming elections.
High National Elections Commission announces its readiness:
On 5 July, the High National Elections Commission announced the start of the first phase of the electoral process with the inauguration of the voter registration system.
The head of the High National Elections Commission, Emad Al-Sayeh, announced the launch of the process of updating the voter register as the first stage of the electoral process scheduled for December 24, this came during his speech at the ceremony organized by the commission on the occasion of the opening of its media center.
Given the importance of the upcoming elections, which many Libyans see as the only savior to end the crisis in Libya, start the actual stage of construction and work, and end the interim stages, the National Unity Government, the Commission, the UN mission, and the House of Representatives have not revealed any plans or measures. Preventive against corona virus.
The importance of plans to confront the epidemic in Libya, during the election period, is considered the first guarantor of elections in a safe environment, so that the situation does not deteriorate and the number of infected people reach record numbers that may enter Libya into a crisis greater than the crises it is facing.
Previous experiences .. “Elections and Coronavirus”:
Public health experts revealed, according to what was published by the American newspaper “The Wall Street Journal”, last May, that elections that were held in Indian states, are one of the factors that contributed to the increase in the number of cases and deaths from the Coronavirus, after political parties and leaders organized, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, big election rallies in some states.
In the Congo, the prominent opposition presidential candidate in Congo-Brazzaville, Guy Brice Parfait Colelas, who was suffering from a chronic infection with the Coronavirus, died hours after the polls closed, last March.
His campaign manager explained that he died on a plane that was taking him to France for treatment, and hours before that, the 61-year-old politician appeared in a video clip shared on social media, in which he removed the oxygen mask and told his supporters that he was “fighting death,” according to what was reported by the BBC Arabic website.
In the United States, which witnessed the presidential elections in November last year, the numbers revealed an increase in Coronavirus infections among citizens, and on one election day, they reached 102,591 new infections.
These examples confirm the importance of preventive preparations against the virus in Libya, especially since the Libyan health situation does not bear any complications in the increase in cases, coinciding with the large number of people that have not received the vaccine until now.
Indian variant “Delta”:
This variant of the Coronavirus has been described as a “variant of terror”, due to its rapid spread, and also for being a greater threat to public health compared to previous variants.
The infection rate of the variant is about 60 percent higher than the infection rate of the alpha variant, which already has a 50 percent higher infection rate compared to the original virus.
It was monitored in more than 90 countries around the world, with confirmed outbreaks in the United States, China, Africa, Scandinavia and the Pacific region, and recently in Arab countries, including Tunisia, which is witnessing high cases.
This data constitutes the most prominent threat to the upcoming elections in Libya, not only on the health situation, but on the future of the country because it is the most dangerous for the government and political bodies.
Perhaps the infection of a number of members of the Political Dialogue Forum in Geneva was an alarm bell to work on new procedures and future plans to ensure safe elections in Libya.
