Interview: Preparations for upcoming elections must begin now: head of Libyan election commission

TRIPOLI, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Imad Al-Sayah, head of the Libyan Higher National Commission of Elections, on Saturday called on the Libyan authorities to begin preparations for the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections now.

Sayah made his remarks during an exclusive interview with Xinhua on the outcome of the recent Paris meeting on Libya that gathered the Libyan parties, who agreed to hold the elections on Dec. 10.

"We believe that the date set, Dec. 10, is very soon. Unless preparations are made in this month, we will face double burdens as the date approaches," Sayah said.

"The process of preparation for the elections is more important than holding the elections," Sayah said, describing the upcoming election as "fateful politically and qualitatively."

"There are a number of conditions that must be met in order to carry out a successful electoral process, most importantly the sincere political will enhanced by the interest of the country by all the political parties that participated in the Paris conference," Sayah explained.

On Tuesday, France hosted a meeting on Libya in Paris which gathered the Libyan parties to end the Libyan political crisis.

In the meeting's final communique, Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Serraj, Khalid al-Meshri, head of the Libyan High Council of State, the eastern-based Parliament Speaker Agila Saleh and the eastern-based army commander Khalifa Haftar pledged "to work constructively with the UN to hold credible and peaceful elections and to respect election results."

The rival Libyan factions also agreed to hold "credible" presidential and parliamentary elections on Dec. 10.

"The (elections) commission will soon begin to communicate with all political parties that participated in the Paris conference, mainly the House of Representatives (parliament)," Sayah revealed.

"We will inform the parliament of the requirements for the upcoming elections, starting with the necessary legislation and technical details related to the implementation of the electoral processes (parliamentary and presidential), as well as the administrative, logistical and financial requirements that must be provided to the commission, so that it can carry out the elections according to international norms and principles," Sayah added.

"Following the completion of these consultations, the commission will consider setting the time frame for the start of the preparations, which will certainly begin with the opening of the voters registration to give citizens the opportunity to register their names or change their voting centers. Thus, we would have an updated voter registration with the start of the elections," he said.

When asked whether the recent IS terrorist attack on the commission's headquarters in Tripoli had affected the elections, Al-Sayah said the "treacherous" terrorist operation had little impact on "our technical, logistical or information capabilities."

A total of 15 people were killed, including nine officials of the commission, in an IS attack on the commission's headquarters in Tripoli on May 2.

"To honor the souls of our martyrs, we are determined to continue to carry out our mission towards our people and our dear homeland. We are staying and they (the terrorists) are doomed," said the head of the commission.

"High-level consultations and meetings are taking place to secure the upcoming elections, including raising the level of security at the Commission's headquarters and its offices and departments," he said. "Consultations are underway to develop plans to secure polling stations and to study security risks that could threaten the elections."

Following the terrorist attack on the commission's headquarters, the international community has expressed commitment to providing support to Libya, including security consultations and training, as well as provision of security equipment. Enditem