Libyan Politicians Call for Int’l Sanctions against Obstructionists in Upcoming Elections

A Libyan registers his data to obtain a voter’s card inside a polling station in Tripoli (AFP)

A number of politicians in Libya are demanding that those obstructing elections face international sanctions, while others are calling for election resistors to be held accountable by local law.

“The international community is required to intervene and punish anyone who wants to violate the right of the Libyan people to express their will to hold elections,” said Libyan lawmaker Mohammed Amer al-Abbani.

Abbani pointed out “it may be difficult to prosecute obstructionists locally, so the international community must be called upon to intervene to impose appropriate penalties.”

The Libyan conference in Paris on Friday had voiced its support for upcoming elections in Libya.

“We affirm that individuals or entities, inside or outside of Libya, who might attempt to obstruct, undermine, manipulate or falsify the electoral process and the political transition will be held accountable and may be designated by the UNSC Sanctions Committee in accordance with UNSC resolution 2571 (2021),” said the conference’s final communique.

Abbani considered that “reliance on the role of the international community in protecting the elections comes within the framework of its legal and moral commitment.”

He stressed that the international community needs to help Libyans in “establishing their political system and building their state.’

Abbani pointed out that “the real bet is for a widely influential popular movement to secure the elections from any targeting attempt.”

For his part, Khaled al-Meshri, the head of the Tripoli-based Supreme Council of State, had called all Libyans to demonstrate before the Electoral Commission to voice their rejection of upcoming elections.

He also urged voters and candidates not to participate in the electoral process.

Meanwhile, Libyan lawmaker Ziad Daghim considered that it is better to subjugate “those obstructing Libyan elections to the national judiciary.”

Reminding that Libya is a sovereign country, Daghim refused relying “on any external party, whether the UN or any other party to punish those accused of obstructing the elections.”