By Janet Ekstract
NEW YORK (TURKISH JOURNAL)- Though the presidential vote is still scheduled to take place on December 24, the eastern-based parliament announced on Tuesday that Libya’s legislative elections were postponed to January. Parliamentary spokesman Abdullah Bliheg told a press conference: “The election for members of the House of Representatives will take place 30 days after the presidential vote.” The House of Representatives is in disagreement over electoral laws with a rival body, similar to Libya’s senate in the western city of Tripoli. Bliheg added that holding the presidential election is a priority and that led to the move to delay the legislative ballot. He commented: “In recent years, the country has not been able to stabilize itself through the parliamentary system.” So, he said it was “necessary to organize the presidential elections as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the western-based chamber indicated it rejected a law that eastern-based MPs adopted the day before on the legislative elections. Spokesman for the High Council of State, Mohammed Nasser, said that the chamber based in Tripoli “rejects ongoing violations by the parliament – the latest being the promulgation of what it called the ‘electoral law of the parliament.’ He wrote on Twitter that a deal signed in 2015 requires parliament “to come to an agreement with the High Council of State on this law.” He added that legislators would be responsible for “any delay or disruption to the date of the elections due to unilateral actions.” The council so far has not responded to the announcement of the legislative vote postponement. On its website on Monday, The House of Representatives said that “by passing the laws necessary for the upcoming elections,” it had “ended one of the most dangerous phases in Libya’s modern history.”
