The chairman of Libya’s High National Elections Commission (HNEC), Emad Al-Sayeh, met on Sunday with the German government’s special envoy, Christian Buck, and his accompanying delegation.
The visit to the HNEC headquarters in Tripoli aimed to show international support for Libya’s democratic process and assess the commission’s readiness for the 2025 municipal council elections for the second group.
According to the commission’s media office, Buck praised HNEC’s efforts in successfully conducting the first group of municipal council elections in 2024, adhering to global standards.
He also reaffirmed Germany’s commitment to providing technical and advisory support to strengthen the commission’s capacity for upcoming electoral events.
Earlier on Sunday, the HNEC announced that voter turnout for the first phase of municipal elections, held on 16 November, reached 77.2% of registered voters.
The commission reported that 102,469 men participated, accounting for 78.7% of the 130,142 male voters registered. Women accounted for 41,082 participants, representing 73.4% of the 55,913 female registrants.
Preliminary figures revealed an overall participation rate of 74%. A total of 186,055 voters were registered for this phase, including 130,000 men and 56,000 women.
The elections featured 1,786 candidates running on party lists across 159 municipalities. An additional 545 candidates contested under the individual candidacy system, including 470 men and 17 women.
The commission noted that the high voter turnout reflects growing civic engagement and interest in shaping Libya’s local governance