Libya's election commission calls for month postponement

Libya’s electoral commission has suggested moving the long-awaited presidential election to Jan. 24 after a parliamentary committee acknowledged it would be “impossible” to hold the polls in two days' time.

The UN-sponsored, Western-backed election was meant to reunite Libya a decade after the toppling of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. The vote was originally planned for Dec. 24, coinciding with the 70th anniversary of Libya’s independence. But with days to go, Libya’s rival entities have yet to agree on a legal framework for the elections or a final list of approved candidates. 

In a letter to the parliament head on Wednesday, Al Hadi al-Sagheer, the chairman of the parliamentary committee charged with overseeing the elections, cited “technical, judicial and security reports” in writing, “We inform you of the impossibility of holding the elections on the date of December 24, 2021, provided for by the electoral law."

Libya’s High National Electoral Commission then issued its own statement after “liaising” with the parliament, recommending the vote be rescheduled for Jan. 24, 2022.