Vital vote for post-Gaddaf i Libya

By Marie-Louise Gumuchian
and Hadeel Al Shalchi 
in Tripoli and Benghazi
Published on 08/07/2012 00:00

CROWDS of joyful Libyans, some with tears in their eyes, voted in the first free national election in 60 years yesterday, hoping to draw a line under the bitter legacy of toppled despot Muammar al-Gaddafi.

However, in the eastern city of Benghazi, cradle of last year’s uprising which culminated in Gaddafi’s death, protesters stormed some polling stations and publicly burned hundreds of ballot papers, demanding greater autonomy for the oil-rich region from the government in capital Tripoli.

Authorities said gunmen prevented voters from entering some polling stations in the eastern oil port of Ras Lanuf. In the south of the country, where there has been violent clashes, some polling stations failed to open.

However, they said that overall 94 per cent of polling stations opened as expected.

Libyans, most voting for the first time after four decades of Gaddafi rule, are choosing a 200-member assembly which will elect an interim prime minister and a cabinet before preparing for full parliamentary elections next year under a new constitution.

Candidates with Islamic agendas dominate the field of more than 3,700 hopefuls, suggesting Libya will be the next Arab spring country – after Egypt and Tunisia – to see religious parties secure power.

In the capital Tripoli, a loud cry of “Allahu akbar (God is greatest)” went up when ­voting began at one polling station, a converted school building.

“I am a Libyan citizen in free Libya,” said Mahmud Mohammed Al-Bizamti. “I came today to be able to vote in a democratic way. Today is like a wedding for us.”

Security was light in the coastal capital, where cars raced through the streets, horns blaring and passengers waving the red, green and black Libyan national flag from the windows.

That was in stark contrast to the situation in Benghazi. According to reports, protesters stormed a polling station just after voting started and set fire to hundreds of ballot slips in a public square in a bid to undermine the election’s validity.

Witnesses said at least four polling stations were targeted. One man was shot in the arm and taken to hospital bleeding heavily after a stand-off between those boycotting the election and those keen to participate.

“There wasn’t enough security at the station to stop the attackers,” Nasser Zwela, 28, said, adding that protesters armed with assault rifles had stormed one polling station and ordered everyone to stop voting.

But supporters of the Nato-backed uprising that overthrew Gaddafi dismissed suggestions the setbacks indicated the election lacked legitimacy.

“I think the best thing for Libya is not to have Muammar Gaddafi massacring his own people… So far, all indications are that this election was free and fair,” US senator John McCain said in Tripoli after being briefed by poll officials.

The United Nations envoy to Libya, Ian Martin, told reporters in the capital: “I think we can see already that the problems are in a small enough proportion of the polling centres that it’s not going to undermine the overall credibility of the election.”

Some voters struggled with procedures for casting their ballot. In one central Tripoli district, two women disappeared into a voting booth together before an election worker hurriedly explained they must vote alone.

“Some of these women are crying as they vote. It is such an emotional day,” said one poll official. Polls closed last night at 8pm local time (6pm GMT) but meaningful partial results are not due until later today and a full preliminary count is not expected until tomorrow at the earliest.

Many easterners, whose region is home to the bulk of Libya’s oil sector, are angry that the east has been allotted only 60 seats in the 200 seat assembly compared with 102 for the west.

On Friday, armed groups shut off half of Libya’s oil ­exports to press demands for greater representation in the assembly. At least three major oil-exporting terminals were affected.

“The country will be in a state of paralysis because no-one in the government is listening to us,” said Hamed al-Hassi, a former rebel who now heads the High Military Council of Cyrenaica, the name of the eastern region.

Port agents said the oil depot closures would last 48 hours but the government sent a team yesterday to negotiate a full reopening of a sector that provides most of Libya’s revenues.

In Gaddafi’s home town of Sirte, a former fishing village on the Mediterranean Sea, the mood before the polls was restrained and some said they would not vote. But no trouble was reported.

Analysts say it is hard to predict the make-up of the new assembly, but parties and candidates professing an attachment to Islamic values dominate and very few are running on a secular ticket. The Justice and Construction offshoot of Libya’s Muslim Brotherhood is tipped to do well, as is al-Watan, party of former CIA detainee and Islamist insurgent Abdel Hakim Belhaj.