Tripoli: Aguila Saleh, speaker of Libya’s eastern-based House of Representatives, called on Libya’s High National Elections Commission to immediately implement the law on direct presidential elections and hold the presidential vote as soon as possible. In a statement published on the official Facebook page of the speaker’s media office on Friday, Saleh expressed the parliament’s support for the peaceful demonstrations that took place across several Libyan regions on Friday evening, demanding the acceleration of the presidential elections, Xinhua news agency reported.
The statement stressed that the demonstrations reflect “the will of the Libyan people, which constitutes the source of authority.” Saleh emphasised that expediting the elections aims to preserve the country’s unity and its institutions, prevent continued division, and meet citizens’ aspirations to build a stable state. Earlier on Friday, several Libyan cities, including those in eastern and southern regions, witnessed large peaceful demonstrations in which citizens demanded the swift holding of presidential elections and the right to choose their political leadership.
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Since the fall of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya has been split between two rival governments — the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity led by Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, and the eastern-based administration appointed by the House of Representatives and headed by Osama Hammad. In an official statement issued this Friday evening, the Second Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mesbah Douma Awhida, affirmed full support for the popular movement demanding the acceleration of presidential and parliamentary elections, calling on the High National Elections Commission (HNEC) to take immediate action.