A member of the High National Elections Commission in Libya ruled out holding the presidential elections on their scheduled date a week from now, which increases the possibility of postponing the polls until the rules governing it are agreed upon.

On Thursday, a member of the commission, Abu Bakr Marda, told Al Jazeera that holding the presidential elections on time on December 24 is no longer possible, as the remaining period is not enough for electoral campaigning.

A source from the Electoral Commission had previously told Al Jazeera that the commission had submitted a report to the House of Representatives that included the legal and technical obstacles and difficulties facing holding the presidential elections, which are reported to be postponed for a few weeks or months.

In the same context, a member of the Libyan House of Representatives, Jibril Ouhaida, told Al Jazeera that holding elections on time has become a thing of the past.

In an interview with Al-Jazeera, a member of the Supreme Council of State in Libya, Abdel-Qader Huwaili, considered that the elections after this polarization will not lead to stability.

On Wednesday, the head of the Internal Affairs Committee in the Libyan House of Representatives, Suleiman Al-Harari, called on the members of the House and the High Electoral Commission to assume their responsibilities and announce the inability to hold the elections on the specified date.

There is frequent talk about the impossibility of holding presidential elections - and perhaps also parliamentary ones, which are supposed to be organized a month after the presidential vote - while the High Electoral Commission has not yet published the final list of candidates for the presidential elections, and the Appeal Courts in Tripoli and Sabha returned both retired Major General Khalifa Haftar. Abdul Hamid al-Dabaiba, Prime Minister of the National Unity Government, and Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi to the electoral race.

This also comes after security incidents that included the attack on the headquarters of the Electoral Commission, and security disturbances, including the clashes that took place in the city of Sabha between forces loyal to Haftar and those affiliated with the Libyan Presidential Council.

The Supreme Council of State - an advisory body stemming from the 2015 political agreement - opposes holding the elections in accordance with the "flawed" laws approved by Parliament, and in the absence of a constitutional basis.


Exclude war now

Meanwhile, Reuters quoted analysts and diplomats as saying that it is unlikely at the present time to return to a direct war between the forces of retired Major General Khalifa Haftar and the anti-Haftar factions in western Libya, as each side is entrenched and enjoys great international military support.

But these analysts and diplomats said there is a greater risk that tensions could develop into an internal war on either side, particularly in Tripoli, where the armed forces are more diverse and political divisions are greater than in Haftar's camp.

In the midst of growing doubts about the organization of the elections on time, the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General of the United Nations on Libya Stephanie Williams held meetings with Libyan leaders in an effort to prevent the collapse of the electoral process.

Internationally, as well, the US Special Envoy to Libya Richard Norland said Thursday during his meeting in Tunisia with the head of the Libyan Electoral Commission Imad al-Sayeh that his country is confident in the commission's ability to organize free and fair elections.

The United States and other Western countries support the Libyan elections procedures, and have previously threatened to impose sanctions on the parties that obstruct them.