|
The July 7 vote for 200 members of a new assembly (similar to the U.S. Congress) is the latest milestone in the “Arab Spring” uprisings that resulted in the overthrow of dictators in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen.
Early results put liberal candidate Mahmoud Jibril in the lead, defying expectations that Libya would follow its neighbor, Egypt, in electing the conservative Muslim Brotherhood into power.
U.S. President Barack Obama congratulated Libyans on the vote, calling it "another milestone on their extraordinary transition to democracy."
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised the people of Libya and the candidates who "contested the election in a peaceful, democratic spirit."
The assembly will choose the first elected government since Moammar Gadhafi took power in 1969. The last fully free parliamentary election was held soon after Libya’s independence from Italy in 1952.
Libya’s election by the numbers
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
The vote was postponed from June 19 to July 7 to resolve logistical and technical problems, and give more time for registering voters and vetting candidates. |
|
|
According to the United Nations and the Libyan Electoral High Commission (HNEC):
*2.8 million registered voters from around 3-3.5 million eligible (45 percent women)
*2,639 individual candidates (competing for 120 seats in 69 constituencies)
*374 party lists from more than 100 political entities (competing for 80 party seats in 20 constituencies)
*559 women registered for party seats (44 percent)
*88 women registered for individual seats (3 percent)
The new government will grapple with questions such as women's rights, the extent of traditional Islamic law and relations with the U.S. and other Western nations that helped bring down Gadhafi.
But the election results are far from final. The next step is to divide the assembly seats: 80 seats are set aside for party lists, and the remaining 120 for individual independent candidates.
Shortly before the voting, Libya's Grand Mufti issued a religious edict prohibiting Libyans from voting for secularists. Meanwhile, independent candidates are seen as possible wildcards and could punish both the Muslim Brotherhood and Jibril's factions for having former ties to the Gadhafi regime.
"We are all waiting and we have nothing to suggest that one party is ahead of others," election commission chief Nouri al-Abar told reporters. He also refused to set a date for announcing complete results.
Voting observers note some election violence
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Democracy is very new in Libya, and many still resort to violence if they can't get their own way. The question is, will Libyans accept the results? |
|
|
Voting began late in some cities after gunmen targeted several polling locations. One person was killed. There were also reports of protesters burning and stealing ballot boxes in the eastern part of the country.
Despite the unrest, officials said voting had taken place in more than 98 percent of polling stations at some point on Saturday.
"It is remarkable that nearly all Libyans cast their ballot free from fear or intimidation," Alexander Graf Lambsdorff of the European Union Assessment Team told a news conference.
The EU team toured half a dozen major cities including the capital Tripoli and the eastern city of Benghazi, the center of the uprising, but did not go to the desert south, where security remains precarious because of tribal clashes.
Libya oil remains source of conflict
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Libya is still a long way from its oil heyday, in the 1960s, when the oil-rich country produced 3.5 million barrels per day. |
|
|
Many people in eastern Libya are concerned that the oil-rich area will be under-represented in the assembly and marginalized, as it was under Gadhafi's 42-year rule.
The region has been allotted only 60 seats in the 200-seat assembly, while the west will have 100 seats and the south 40, under the system devised by the outgoing National Transitional Council (NTC).
Some former rebels tried to derail the vote by targeting the oil facilities and a significant part of Libya's oil exporting capacity has been disrupted.
In an attempt to defuse the situation, the NTC has said the new parliament will no longer be responsible for picking the panel that will draft Libya's new constitution.
The 60-member committee will be elected in a separate vote at a later date.
|
Consumers are also voters. If companies continue to publicize what party platforms they support alongside their next sale, where you shop could become as equally a defining factor as who you vote for in the next election.
