By Jamal Adel.
Tripoli, 2 March 2014:
The head of the High National Elections Commission (HNEC), Nuri Elabbar, resigned this afternoon in the . . .[restrict]aftermath of elections to the Constitutional Committee, dogged by boycotts and security breaches. Only 47 of the 60 seats could be filled.
Elabbar confirmed to the Libya Herald that he had officially submitted his resignation to the General National Congress (GNC) but declined to give further details.
An HNEC official, however, said Elabbar had been unhappy with the lack of security provided by Congress and the government during the elections. Elabbar himself said yesterday that the Commission had made repeated requests for security for the elections but, despite this, provision had not been made. No-one had taken responsibility for this, he added.
Without proper security, voting was disrupted during elections for the Constitutional Drafting Committee on 20 February. Derna was particularly affected, with the bombing of six polling stations. It prevented voting from taking place. A week later, when HNEC attempted a re-run in the affected areas, ethnic minority group boycotts and security threats in a number again disrupted voting.
These issues meant that 13 of 60 seats on the committee could not be filled.
Two other senior HNEC officials, Elabbar’s deputy Imad Al-Saih and HNEC member Khaled Al-Sahali, have also submitted their resignations, according to Libyan News Agency LANA.
Elabbar’s name has been mentioned, along with several others, as a possible replacement for Prime Minister Ali Zeidan. [/restrict]
