Libya’s interim Government of National Unity, headed by Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, has paved the way for the possibility of postponing presidential elections, scheduled for the end of this month, despite the UN pledging to provide the necessary assistance to complete them on time.
Libya may have to delay presidential elections slated for December 24 if worsening “violations” threatening the electoral process continue, Interior Minister Khaled Mazen said Tuesday.
“The continued obstruction of security plans and worsening violations and abuses … will directly impact the conduct of the elections and our commitment to holding them on time,” Mazen told reporters in the capital Tripoli.
“We must not continue on a path that would lead to the deterioration of the security situation until it is out of control,” Mazen said, speaking alongside the justice minister.
He warned that the current circumstances would not permit elections to take place “normally.”
He pointed out that the Interior Ministry and Justice Ministry have “followed with great concern the expansion of security breaches after the start of the electoral process in the country, which threatens its integrity and its continuation.”
He also spoke of the two ministries receiving several complaints from different parties, “which affects the integrity of the electoral process and hampers the process of securing it.”
In other news, Mazen met on Tuesday with Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Libya and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Jan Kubis and his accompanying delegation.
Kubis pledged to assist the Interior Ministry to perform its full tasks and to ensure fair elections.
In a statement, Mazen said he reviewed with Kubis several security challenges that might hinder the conduct of the electoral process, explaining that the responsibility rests with the Libyan people for the success of the elections.
