The Chairman of the Independent High National Elections Commission, Emad Al-Sayeh, announced the start of the two electoral processes and the opening of candidacy starting Monday.
Al-Sayeh added during a press conference that the acceptance of applications of candidacy for the presidential elections will continue until November 22, while candidacy for the parliamentary elections will be available until December 7. Accepting applications for candidacy for the presidential elections will be limited to the main branches of the commission in Tripoli, Benghazi and Sebha because of its sensitivity, he said.
He indicated that the acceptance of applications for candidacy for the parliamentary elections will take place through 25 centers, in conjunction with the acceptance of presidential nominations, reiterating the Commission’s commitment to the procedures and regulations that will be published later on regulating the process of accepting applications for candidacy for elections.
Al-Sayeh confirmed that the process of delivering voter cards will begin on Monday, in a process that is the first locally, amid strict procedures that ensure the necessity of the personal presence of the card holder, pointing to the opening of 14 centers for the displaced from different parts of the country to ensure their participation in the electoral process.
He praised the efforts of the Ministry of Interior, which will secure the electoral process in terms of security and logistics, and ensure that voters reach polling centers after forming a team of 26 security coordinators; to communicate and coordinate with the Ministry of Interior.
Al-Sayeh revealed the Commission’s expectations of limited violations in some polling stations, stressing their readiness to deal with them according to special procedures regulated by law, criticizing the campaign of disruption to the Commission by election obstructionists, calling on everyone not to pay attention to misleading news.
He attributed the delay to the Commission’s receipt of the technical amendments that it requested to be made to the electoral laws; because the MPs are busy traveling outside the country, despite the adoption of these amendments two weeks ago.
Al-Sayeh stressed the Commission’s commitment to holding the elections on their scheduled date on December 24, which will be the date of the first round of the presidential elections, while the second round will be held in conjunction with the elections for the House of Representatives, which Al-Sayeh expected to be held 52 days after the end of the first round.
It is worth noting that the Head of the High Council of State, Khaled Al-Mashri, criticized the National Electoral Commission, describing its Chairman as an employee, calling on him not to accept the electoral laws approved by the House of Representatives, in an open threatening letter indicating the non-acceptance of the results of the electoral process approved by the Geneva Agreement and stressed by the Berlin process.
