Libya’s parliament announced on Friday that the planned presidential election would not take place, throwing the internationally-backed peace process into disarray and casting doubt on the interim government’s fate.
The electoral commission proposed delaying voting by a month, confirming a delay that had been widely anticipated due to ongoing disagreements over the rules, including the eligibility of several divisive major candidates.
Disagreements highlighted the limitations of a winner-take-all presidential election involving candidates deemed unacceptable in large parts of the country, including Muammar Gaddafi’s son and a military leader who assaulted Tripoli.
A peace process that had been considered as the best hope in years for bringing an end to the decade of chaos and violence that has gripped Libya since a NATO-backed rebellion deposed Gaddafi in 2011 is at jeopardy.
Many Libyans had already registered for voting cards for the election, which politicians on all sides in Libya have described as a sign of strong popular desire for a vote.
However, with armed groups mobilizing in Tripoli and other western areas, the collapse of the electoral process risks exacerbating local disputes and sparking a new round of fighting.
Disputes over the way forward could also derail the larger U.N.-backed peace process between Libya’s main eastern and western camps, which have been at odds since last year.
Some eastern figures have warned of a new breakaway government, which would return Libya to the division between warring administrations that existed between the last election in 2014 and the installation of the current interim government.
Behind the scenes, factions, candidates, and foreign powers have been debating whether an election can still be held with a short delay or whether a longer postponement is required to reach an agreement on the legal basis of the vote.
Stephanie Williams, a United Nations special adviser, said on social media that she had been meeting members of the political forum that set the electoral process in motion last year, and she emphasized the importance of “free, fair, and credible elections.”
Meanwhile, the status of the interim government, which was established in March as part of the same peace process, is in jeopardy, with the eastern-based parliament withdrawing confidence in it in September.
According to a statement issued by the electoral committee on Wednesday, the government’s mandate will expire on Friday. Other major factions and political institutions, however, may remain loyal to the government, which is also recognized by the United Nations.
The election was originally scheduled as part of a United Nations-backed roadmap that called for simultaneous parliamentary and presidential elections on December 24 – Libya’s national day.
However, there was no agreement among the country’s fragmented political institutions on the constitutional basis for the election or on the rules.
In September, Aguila Saleh, the speaker of parliament and a presidential candidate, issued a law that his critics claimed was not properly passed through the chamber, deviated from the roadmap, and was crafted to benefit himself and his allies.
Although powerful factions and leading candidates opposed the law, which separated the presidential election from a later parliamentary election, it served as the foundation of the electoral process.
With little agreement on the rules, and no one to enforce or adjudicate disputes, the entry of divisive candidates into the presidential race precipitated the process’s demise.
Emad Sayeh, the head of the Electoral Commission, said in a statement that the process had been hampered because the rules were insufficient to handle appeals and disputes over eligibility.
Eastern commander Khalifa Haftar, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, and interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah were the three most divisive candidates.
After his 2019-20 assault on Tripoli, which destroyed parts of the capital, Haftar became unpopular in western Libya. Gaddafi was found guilty of war crimes by a Tripoli court and is reviled by many of those who took part in the 2011 uprising.
Dbeibah had promised not to run in an election when he was installed as premier, and his continued work as prime minister in the run-up to the election led many of his opponents to accuse him of having an unfair advantage.
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