2024 Libyan local elections
Local elections were held in 60 municipalities in Libya on 16 November 2024. The Gaddafist movement led by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, won a landslide victory. These were the first democratic elections held in both the east and west of the country since the outbreak of civil war after the 2014 parliamentary election.
The results were announced on 23 November 2024 after a week's delay, with candidates able to appeal the results until 25 November. The results were approved on 23 December, with two municipalities, Al-Shuwayrif and Wadi Zamzan, having their results withheld after incidents of electoral fraud. These were then merged into neighbouring municipalities.
Background
Libya has been politically unstable since the First Libyan Civil War and the killing of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. After the fall of Gaddafi and his regime, different armed groups clashed over ideological differences and vied for control of the nation.[1][2] This escalated into a second civil war in 2014 after a disputed parliamentary election, with rival governments set up in the west and the east of the country.[1][2] The second civil war ended after the United Nations (UN) brokered a ceasefire in 2020, with the UN and other Libyan leaders negotiating the formation of a new interim Government of National Unity (GNU) in 2021 to lead the country into a new presidential election scheduled for 2021.[3]
The presidential election was called off in December 2021 after a series of factional disputes and legal challenges.[3] In 2022, the Government of National Stability (GNS) was declared in the east with the support of Libyan National Army (LNA) commander Khalifa Haftar, the de facto ruler of east Libya since the LNA captured the eastern capital of Benghazi in 2017.[4] Since then, the internationally recognised GNU and the GNS have both claimed to be the legitimate government of Libya, with the western parts of the country governed by the GNU and the east governed by the GNS under the de facto control of Haftar and backed by the House of Representatives.[5][4][6] A third major faction of Gaddafi loyalists led by Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi has also emerged, after he became a candidate and led opinion polls for the cancelled presidential election in 2021.[7][6][8][9] This faction is based in the southern and central areas of the country, as well as the north-western cities of Zintan, Sirte and, in a Gaddafist area known as the green belt, the western and national capital of Tripoli.[10][11][6]
In 2023, the head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Abdoulaye Bathily announced a UN initiative for new elections in Libya. In March, the western and eastern governments agreed to form a joint committee to draw up new electoral laws.[12] In July, the committee approved electoral regulations which would enable local municipal elections sometime in 2024.[13][14] The House of Representatives passed a law which transferred legal responsibility for conducting elections from the legally government-controlled Central Commission of Municipal Council Elections to the independent High National Election Commission (HNEC).[13] This marked the first time local elections would be held independently in Libya, free from government control.[15] All three factions agreed to recognise the HNEC's authority over the elections.[16]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Why is Libya so lawless?". BBC News. 23 January 2020. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Weise, Zia (17 January 2020). "The Libyan conflict explained". Politico. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Hammady, Omar (18 February 2022). "What Went Wrong With Libya's Failed Elections". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Haftar will retain personal control in east Libya". Emerald Expert Briefings. oxan-db (oxan–db). 2023. doi:10.1108/OXAN-DB280469. ISSN 2633-304X. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
- ↑ Brooke-Holland, Louisa (1 October 2024). "Libya: Political developments since 2011" (PDF). House of Commons Library. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Escalonilla, Álvaro (13 January 2023). "Saif al-Islam Gaddafi emerges as alternative to Libya's two warring factions". Atalayar. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
- ↑ "Libya: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi launches "the last peaceful solution" to save the country". Agenzia Nova News. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
- ↑ "Libya: Saif al Islam Gaddafi Threatens to 'Scrap' Dabaiba Government". Agenzia Nova News. 28 November 2024. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
- ↑ Fitzgerald, Mary (26 June 2023). "Libya's ongoing debate over the role of political parties". Middle East Institute. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
- ↑ "Libya: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi reappears, vehicles and armed men parade in Zintan – video". Agenzia Nova. 19 April 2024. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
- ↑ Saleh, Heba (19 November 2021). "Prodigal Gaddafi son taps into nostalgia for stability of father's rule". Financial Times. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
- ↑ "Libyan elections are possible this year, U.N. envoy says". Reuters. 11 March 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Assad, Abdulkader (30 July 2023). "HNEC reviews implementation of municipal councils' elections law". The Libya Observer. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
- ↑ "Libya's 6+6 Joint Committee Discusses Election Laws". Libya Review. 29 August 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
- ↑ Kherigi, Intissar; Ellouh, Redha (2024). "Local Governance in Libya". Mediterranean Platform School of Government. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
- ↑ Libya, Mohammed (3 March 2024). "Al-Sayeh: HNEC will be responsible on securing municipal council elections". The Libya Observer. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
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