TRIPOLI — A group of candidates in war-torn
Libya’s presidential election said Monday that they expect the polls to be delayed, despite the lack of an official announcement to that effect.
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Scheduled for Friday, the vote is meant to cap a
UN-led peace process after a decade of conflict.
But it has been beset by deep divisions over its legal basis, who may stand and court challenges against prominent candidates.
On Monday, 17 hopefuls issued a joint statement in which they implicitly acknowledged that a delay was inevitable.
The group urged the electoral commission to “reveal the reasons why there will be no election on the date set”, and called on it to “publish a final list of candidates”.
Multiple observers have predicted a delay, but just days ahead of the vote, there has been no official announcement.
Libya, torn apart by a decade of conflict since its 2011 revolution, has seen a year of relative calm since a landmark October 2020 ceasefire, and the UN has been pushing for elections as part of a multi-pronged peace effort.
But presidential bids by several divisive figures, a controversial electoral law and lack of agreement over the powers of the next government have posed a series of obstacles.
The candidacies of eastern military chief
Khalifa Haftar and
Seif Al-Islam Gaddafi, son of slain dictator Muammar Gaddafi — both accused of war crimes — have sparked particular opposition from rival camps.
Meanwhile, in a country controlled by dozens of armed groups including thousands of foreign fighters, analysts warn that the ceasefire is increasingly fragile.
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