The Head of Libya’s High National Elections Commission (HNEC), Emad al-Din al-Sayeh, said that he met with the Speaker of Libyan Parliament, Ageela Saleh, who expressed his support for the elections and HNEC. Al-Sayeh added that Saleh assigned him to prepare the parliamentary and presidential elections projects.
HNEC noted that the commission is currently working on the December 24th election projects, and after two weeks they will be handed over to the Speaker of Parliament.
During an interview with “Al-Wasat” channel, Al-Sayeh added that he is in contact with the speaker of the parliament, but there are Members of Parliament (MPs) who accused him of working and helping foreign countries, and in return.
Al-Sayeh went on to say that, “our position is clear before the statements of the Security Council and before the statements of ambassadors of foreign countries. My position is drawn from the Libyan street and public opinion, and they strongly support the December 24 elections.”
He added that, “a large number of the Libyan MPs support holding the elections on December 24 and support the efforts of the commission in that. On the other hand, there are parties from the two the Parliament and the High State Council, who refuse to hold the elections on December 24.”
The Head of the Election Commission explained that Sudan benefited greatly from the Libyan experience. They talked neither about a constitutional referendum or elections, and they are content with forming a government and a Presidential Council until the affairs of the state are stabilized.
“Unfortunately we like for them to impose on us the Iraqi experience, where a constitution was enacted and a referendum was enacted in light of the conditions of a non-state there. Today Iraq does not have any constitution, so is it logical to repeat the same mistake by transferring the Iraqi experience and marketing it in Libya, and that results in divisions and wars?”
He stated that, “I think that the allocated sums will not meet the completion of the electoral process scheduled for December 24, it can only meet the preparation process. Al-Sayeh explained that this budget is spent on rehabilitating the offices of the commission throughout Libya, in addition to rehabilitating and training the personnel that will be involved in the electoral process.”
Al-Sayeh pointed out that the Commission has not yet contacted the Government of National Unity (GNU) about the additional sums.
He pointed out that if parliamentary and presidential elections were to be held, this would require allocating additional funds to the Electoral Commission. He stated that if presidential elections were to be held in two rounds, the cost should be raised by about 70%.
Al-Sayeh emphasized that HNEC will present its estimates regarding the additional funds once the budget is approved and the vision is clear about the future and type of the electoral process scheduled to take place on December 24th.