Libya’s election body said a presidential vote scheduled for Friday can’t go ahead and proposed holding it a month later, calling on parliament to resolve obstacles to the landmark ballot in the OPEC nation.
The High National Election Commission said the inadequacy of electoral legislation was a main obstruction to the vote taking place as scheduled. Its proposal to instead hold the first round of presidential elections on Jan. 24 will need parliamentary approval.
The election is a key step following long-running United Nations-brokered talks aimed at ending a decade of conflict that ravaged the North African country and battered its economy.
Among those who registered to run for president are a son of Libya’s former autocratic leader Moammar Gadhafi, eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar and Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, the prime minister of the unity government.
The commission’s proposal came after the parliamentary body tasked with overseeing the vote said a Friday ballot would be impossible.
Local outlets including Fawasel Media cited the head of the election commission as saying key officials at the organization had resigned amid a failure to hold the vote on time. TV channel 218 later reported the commission denied that.
