Al-Ad Al-Aksi (Countdown) program on 218News discussed on Saturday evening the most prominent developments in the electoral process, after the Electoral Commission’s talk about delaying the vote date, and the legal and political developments related to the upcoming elections, especially the file of the presidential candidates’ appeals, with guests Ahmed Al-Sharkasi, a member of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum, and human rights activist, Emad Arqeia.
The member of the Political Dialogue Forum Ahmed Al-Sharkasi talked about the postponement of the announcement of the final list for the presidential elections due to a problem in the appeals and the appeal committees of the Electoral Commission, indicating that the Electoral Commission tried, through its lawyer, to appeal the motion against Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, but it was prevented from submitting the appeal paperwork, and on the other hand, Al-Sharkasi was surprised that Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah was not excluded from the electoral race according to Article 12 of the Presidential Election Law, as he assumed the duties of the Prime Minister until last November.
Al-Sharkasi added that the election obstructionists will not succeed in postponing it for a long period of time, but rather the polling date will be moved for a short period of time.
For his part, human rights activist Emad Arqeia said that moving the polling date from December 24 to another date is a postponement of the elections, noting that the receipt of more than 2.5 million electoral cards shows Libyans’ readiness for the voting process and, therefore; no party has the right to shatter the ambitions of Libyans with the possibility of postponing the elections until after January 15, 2022.
Al-Sharkasi indicated that the electoral process is a joint responsibility between the Electoral Commission, the Supreme Judicial Council and the House of Representatives. For this reason, the Electoral Commission has exceeded its technical competencies with the aim of cooperating with the two councils, in adopting the correct law, due to the imbalance in the issue of appeals.
On the return of American diplomat Stephanie Williams to the Libyan scene again, Al-Sharkasi stressed that the United Nations Support Mission in Libya had begun to falter since Williams’ departure previously, as a result of the internal structure, and the lack of harmony between the UN envoy, Jan Kubis, and his deputy, Raisedon Zenenga. This affected the course of the political process in Libya.
As for Stephanie Williams, human rights activist Arqeia commented on her return saying: “Her strength lies in her experience that was gained through working over two years on the Libyan issue to know the nature of political figures, and sort out those obstructing the political track.
He added that the UN Security Council became distracted about the conflict in Libya, pointing out that Russia had become a party obstructing any positive efforts within the Security Council to appoint a UN envoy to Libya by Britain or the United States.
Al-Sharkasi confirmed that the LPDF legal committee continued for nearly a year to search for a consensual basis for the elections, reiterating that what the electoral process is witnessing today comes in the midst of the technical issue.
He indicated that the current stage requires the formation of a mini-government, even for a few days, by the House of Representatives, due to the relationship of candidate Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah with the current government and his continued supervision of it.
Arqeia concluded his speech by saying that he did not prefer the presence of Dbeibah in the presidential race; for using more than 60 billion dinars of Libyans’ money in electoral propaganda, instead of preparing the popular base and the general mood of the electoral process.
