Libyan legislative body warns of ‘systematic’ fraud before presidential elections

Libya’s High Council of State on Sunday announced that there were “systematic” attempts to commit voter fraud in the run-up to contentious presidential elections.

In a statement, the High Council of State (HCS) said that it was “deeply concerned” by “systematic fraud attempts and recorded violations of registration for and reception of voter cards”.

The HCS currently acts as the upper house of the Libyan parliament. Until 2020, two rival administrations fought for power in Libya - an internationally recognised government based in Tripoli and an unrecognized administration based in the east of the country, allied to warlord Khalifa Haftar.

In October 2020 a peace agreement was signed, unifying the institutions of the two rival administrations and establishing an interim government in the run-up to presidential elections due to be held on December 24, but tensions still remain, with Haftar challenging the authority of interim Prime Minister Abdel Hamid Dbeibah.

The head of the Tripoli-based HCS, Khaled al-Mishri, has previously called for elections to be delayed amid disputes with the east-based House of Representatives, which was allied with Haftar and currently acts as the lower house of the Libyan parliament.

The elections have been mired in controversy amid presidential bids by Haftar and Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of former dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Both men have been accused of war crimes and Libya’s High Electoral Commission has disqualified Saif al-Islam from running.

In its statement the HCS said it would hold the High Electoral Commission “fully responsible” for any voter fraud.

It said that an unnamed member of the HCS had been assaulted in Tripoli after he had “discovered a number of violations regarding the registration of and reception of voting cards”.

The HCS called on Libya’s interior ministry to open an inquiry into fraud, saying that it was continuing to monitor the situation.

The election commission previously extended a deadline for receipt of registration cards from Sunday to Wednesday, and said that two million voters had so far received registration cards.

It has accepted presidential bids from 73 candidates while disqualifying 25 others.