The Libyan High Electoral Commission (HNEC) announced the opening as of Monday, November 8 of the submission of candidatures for the presidential election in December, followed by that of the legislative elections in January, supposed to get Libya out of a decade of chaos.

"The submission of candidatures for the presidential election will be open from November 8 to 22, and that of the parliamentary elections from December 8 to 7," HNEC director Imad al-Sayeh announced on Sunday.

"This is the real start of the electoral process."

The candidatures for the presidential election will be accepted "exclusively in the offices of the commission, in Tripoli (west), Benghazi (east) and Sebha" (south) while those for the legislative ones could be deposited in all the offices of the HNEC, a added Imad al-Sayeh.

For this double ballot, more than 2.83 million Libyans, out of approximately 7 million inhabitants, registered on the online platform of the HNEC.

The distribution of voters' cards will take place in the polling stations until the end of November.

Elections essential to pacify the country

Libya sank into chaos after the 2011 uprising that ousted former dictator Muammar Gaddafi from power.

The country is trying to close this eventful chapter through a political process, initiated in November 2020 under the aegis of the UN.

For the international community, the holding of elections is essential to pacify the country, which has the most abundant oil reserves in Africa.

In a fragile security context, the successful completion of these elections remains uncertain.

Imad al-Sayeh promised that the HNEC would do "everything to ensure that these elections are free and fair".

Seif al-Islam Kadhafi, son of the former "Guide", hinted that he could present himself, along with Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the strong man of the East.

Asked about the conformity of these candidatures and that of the current Prime Minister, Abdelhamid Dbeibah, Imad al-Sayeh affirmed that "all those who meet the conditions required by the law can run" to become the first Libyan president elected in Universal suffrage.  

Five personalities have already pre-announced their candidacies: the former influential Minister of the Interior, Fathi Bachagha, the diplomat and founder of the "Ihya Libya" party, Aref al-Nayed, the former Libyan ambassador to the UN , Ibrahim al-Dabbachi, the former Minister of Industry under Gaddafi and member of the "National Project" party, Fathi Ben Shatwan, and, to everyone's surprise, the famous Libyan comic Hatem al-Kour.

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