Libya’s parliamentary speaker Aguila Saleh said Tuesday that by the end of the month the committee responsible for overseeing elections must set a “definitive” date for postponed presidential and legislative polls.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A presidential election was due to take place on December 24, followed by legislative polls, but the UN-sponsored electoral process was delayed in the troubled North African nation amid political tensions.<\/p>\n

Those tensions pit military strongman Khalifa Haftar and an eastern-based parliament against authorities centring around an interim government in the capital Tripoli in the west, led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah.<\/p>\n

Libya has been ravaged by violence and insecurity ever since a NATO-backed uprising in the oil-rich nation toppled and killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.<\/p>\n

Saleh, speaking at a parliamentary session in the eastern port city of Tobruk, said a parliamentary committee overseeing elections must present its “final report” by the end of January.<\/p>\n

The report must detail both “the steps necessary to remove the obstacles which hampered the electoral process” in December and “determine a definitive date” for holding the ballot, he said.<\/p>\n

Months of disputes finally saw the vote postponed just days before it was to take place as the committee overseeing the election declared it impossible to hold as scheduled.<\/p>\n

It was derailed by bitter arguments including over divisive candidates and a disputed legal framework.<\/p>\n

The commission must also present to parliament “a complete vision of the executive power and the formation of a new government”, said Saleh, who is himself a candidate in the presidential election.<\/p>\n

His demand for a fixed poll date comes a day after he called for a new interim government to be established in Tripoli, noting that the current executive has outlived its mandate.<\/p>\n

Parliament in September passed a vote of no confidence in the interim government.<\/p>\n

Saleh has called on the attorney general to “investigate” the government’s expenses along with “abuses of power” including nominations to posts.<\/p>\n

The call came as United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday urged Libya’s political factions and parties to hold safe, “inclusive and credible” presidential and parliamentary elections as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

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Libya’s parliamentary speaker Aguila Saleh said Tuesday that by the end of the month the committee responsible for overseeing elections must set a “definitive” date for postponed presidential and legislative polls.   A presidential election was due to take place on December 24, followed by legislative polls, but the UN-sponsored electoral process was delayed in the troubled North African nation amid political tensions. Those tensions pit military strongman Khalifa Haftar and an eastern-based parliament against authorities centring around an interim government in the capital Tripoli in the west, led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah. Libya has been ravaged by violence […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567,562],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-news","category-yeswecantv-news"],"yoast_head":"\n