The Libyan Bar Association has threatened to engage in civil disobedience, if a deadline is not set for the general elections. In a statement, the Association condemned what it described as “legislative tampering.”
“The continued intransigence of the political bodies emanating from the political agreement, and their refusal to hold elections, is a desperate attempt by them to stay in power,” the statement said.
It noted that “the people are capable of overthrowing any regime, as they did in 2011,” and stressed the need to establish a state of law and institutions. As well as ensure the peaceful transfer of power.
Notably, the Speaker of the Libyan Parliament, Ageela Saleh stated that the Government of National Unity’s (GNU) mandate has expired, and it cannot continue in office.
During a Parliamentary session on Monday, Saleh said: “We need food, medicine, and healthcare, and this is the task of the executive authority. The issue of the government is that its term has expired, and we are here today debating whether to continue or change it.”
The Speaker pointed out that GNU spent 86 billion dinars, while people “did not feel that projects even amounted to 10 billion.”
The UN-backed peace plan called for both Parliamentary and Presidential elections on 24 December. Preparations for the vote fell apart over disagreements about fundamental rules, including the eligibility of some of the main candidates, including the current PM, Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba who had pledged not to run for elections.
Earlier, Roadmap Committee stated that holding elections would require 10 months to one year of preparations. This includes, amending the constitution, and adopting electronic voter records to prevent fraud.
The Chairman of the committee, Nasr El-Din Mhenni briefed the Parliament, and claimed that the High National Elections Commission (HNEC) should receive technical, security, and legislative support to complete the electoral process.
He also clarified that the Civil Status Authority submitted a project to match national ID’s to detect forgery. The project will be completed within 240 days, he confirmed.