The Head of the High National Elections Commission (HNEC), Emad Al-Sayeh, told the House of Representatives (HoR) in Tobruk on Monday that three reasons led to the declaration of force majeure and postponement of December 24 elections, saying the HNEC is ready, technically, to hold elections. He explained that conflicting judiciary rulings, and rulings after the deadline like that of Misrata appeals court are reasons behind the force majeure decision, saying the HNEC cannot look away from the rulings even if they were made after the lawful deadline. "The HNEC received 60 candidacies just 48 hours from December 24, while in two weeks before that, it received 40. The time wasn't enough but we had to so the vetting work to stick to the deadline." Al-Sayeh explained that the HNEC received different elections laws than those it had discussed with the HoR in Rome meeting, saying upon revising the laws, there were lots of hurdles that the HNEC told the HoR to amend on October 07, thus expecting challenges to elections if they weren't amended.

Source: Libya Observer January 04, 2022 07:06 UTC