12th February, 2018
Speaker, Libya House of Representatives, Aguila Issa, says no fewer than 2.5 million Libyans have registered to cast their ballots in the forthcoming 2018 general elections.
“No fewer than 2.5 million people or almost a half of the country’s population have already registered to take part in the election.
“Given that our population is between five to six million people, this means that Libyans want to participate in the election,” the speaker said.
Libya has been in turmoil since the 2011 civil war that resulted in the overturn of country’s long time leader Muammar Gaddafi.
The eastern part of the crisis-torn state is governed by its parliament, with headquarters in the city of Tobruk.
The parliament is backed by the Libyan National Army headed by Gen. Khalifa Haftar, which is engaged in struggle against militants.
At the same time, the UN-backed Government of National Accord, headed by Fayez Sarraj, operates in the country’s west and is headquartered in Tripoli.
In September, a UN Action Plan for Libya aiming to revive the country’s political process was proposed at the UN General Assembly.
The plan, in particular, provided for amending the Libyan Political Agreement in order to pave the way for the 2018 elections.
The plan has also envisaged the allocation of financial and technical assistance to the Libyan High National Election Commission to prepare and hold the votes.