Why Libya Failed to Hold Presidential Elections on Time

Workers sit near an electoral billboard reading in Arabic 'Our participation is the future of your country' in Tripoli , Libya, 22 December 2021. EPA/STR
Workers sit near an electoral billboard reading in Arabic 'Our participation is the future of your country' in Tripoli , Libya, 22 December 2021. EPA/STR
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Why Libya Failed to Hold Presidential Elections on Time

Workers sit near an electoral billboard reading in Arabic 'Our participation is the future of your country' in Tripoli , Libya, 22 December 2021. EPA/STR
Workers sit near an electoral billboard reading in Arabic 'Our participation is the future of your country' in Tripoli , Libya, 22 December 2021. EPA/STR

Libyans were meant to elect a president Friday hoping to help end years of turmoil, but the poll was delayed amid intense rivalries, UN failures and legal issues, experts say.

Analyst Jalel Harchaoui of the Global Initiative think tank pointed to "mistakes on the part of the UN and an attitude of extremely bad faith on the part of Libyan actors".

The ballot should have marked a fresh start for the oil-rich North African nation, AFP reported. But officials on Wednesday said holding the December 24 vote as scheduled was impossible, with the electoral commission suggesting a month's delay.

"Preparations for the election had been taking place in a highly volatile climate characterized by disputes over electoral laws and the eligibility of candidates," Amnesty International said in a report.

"Armed groups and militias repeatedly repressed dissenting voices, restricted civil society and attacked election officials," Amnesty's Diana Eltahawy said.

The delay is a major challenge to the United Nations-sponsored peace process.

"From the outset, holding elections in Libya was going to be a dangerous gamble," said Claudia Gazzini, from the International Crisis Group.

"But the immediate trigger for this halt in the electoral process was a controversy over the leading electoral candidates".

The electoral process began to come off the rails when Haftar-ally Aguila Saleh, speaker of the eastern-based House of Representatives, signed off on an electoral law in September without putting it to a vote.

Saleh "is responsible for the electoral laws, which are a real disaster", Global Initiative's Harchaoui said, adding that the problematic legislation was "absolutely crucial to explaining the failure of the elections".

Despite criticism, UN Libya envoy Jan Kubis offered support for the law.

After that, "the UN lost room to maneuver", Harchaoui said.

Wolfram Lacher, a Libya specialist at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, criticized Kubis's "clueless backing" of Saleh's electoral law.

Analysts said that despite alarm bells, many in the international community clung onto the scheduled election date.

"Elections, however, are not the silver bullet that can deliver political stability," warned Hamish Kinnear, from risk analysis firm Verisk Maplecroft.

"As yet, there is no presidential candidate who stands much of a chance at taking power without being opposed by at least one well-armed faction."

For Lacher, the crisis was effectively inevitable ever since Saleh backed the electoral law.

"There were many scenarios how it could fail, and no shortage of insistent warnings," he said. "It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion."



52 Palestinians Including Children Killed in Israeli Airstrikes in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
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52 Palestinians Including Children Killed in Israeli Airstrikes in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 28 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including four children, hospital officials said Saturday. Also, 24 others were fatally shot on their way to aid distribution sites.

The children and two women were among at least 13 people who were killed in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, after Israeli airstrikes pounded the area starting late Friday, officials in Al-Aqsa Martyr's Hospital said. Another four people were killed in strikes near a fuel station, and 15 others died in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, according to Nasser Hospital.

The Israeli military said in a statement that over the past 48 hours, troops struck approximately 250 targets in the Gaza Strip, including militants, booby-trapped structures, weapons storage facilities, anti-tank missile launch posts, sniper posts, tunnels and additional Hamas infrastructure sites. The military did not immediately respond to The Associated Press' request for comment on the civilian deaths.

The Hamas-led group killed some 1,200 people in their Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and abducted 251. They still hold 50 hostages, less than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel’s offensive has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, which is under Gaza’s Hamas-run government, doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. The UN and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.

US President Donald Trump has said that he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war. But after two days of talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu there were no signs of a breakthrough.