#libyan elections

Gadhafi was out of the public view between 2017-2021, prompting speculation about his whereabouts and whether he was even alive. During that time, he was active behind the scenes, meeting supporters and mediating tribal conflicts, particularly in southern Libya.

Yusuf, one of his closest associates (he requested that his family name not be published), told Al-Monitor that the young Gadhafi “was always active, working almost every day.” According to Yusuf, Gadhafi “played a very successful role in reconciling two of Sabha’s biggest tribes” last year.

Now that he is officially in the race despite the HNEC’s attempts to disqualify him, his close supporters are keeping a watchful eye over what might transpire. Yusuf believes there is a concerted effort by different political actors and “foreign countries” to have him disqualified from the race. Without naming any specific country, Yusuf said, “Many countries do not like him.”

When asked whether Gadhafi stands a chance in winning the elections, Yusuf said, “[I’m] 100% sure that Saif will win.” Libya has neither official nor professional opinion polls, but Yusuf pointed to social media as an indicator. "All over Facebook, [Saif] is the favorite contestant.” In the absence of any official polls, relying on social media becomes the obvious choice to get a read on the mood of the general public.

It's disheartening, but this won't be the end

No-one stages a big comeback like that for nothing 🧐

"The last time Libyans went to the polls was almost half a century ago under the late-monarch King Idriss, who Gadhafi toppled in a bloodless coup in 1969. The North African nation held parliamentary elections in 1964 and then again in 1965 but parties were banned.

Faisal Krekshi, secretary general of the Alliance of National Forces led by Mahmoud Jibril, said he was basing his results on reports by party representatives at ballot counting centers across the vast desert nation. He gave no details and the head of the election commission refused to confirm Krekshi's announcement.

"We are all waiting and we have nothing to suggest that one party is ahead of others," election commission chief Nouri al-Abar told reporters. He also refused to set a date for announcing the full official results.

By David D. Kirkpatrick, NY Times, July 6, 2012 BENGHAZI, Libya--The first election in more than four decades was supposed to forge a new Libya but threatens instead to tear it apart.

Protesters angry at the distribution of seats in the congress shot down a Libyan Air Force helicopter delivering ballots here on Friday, killing an election official, the United Nations said.

In Tripoli, a militia member threatened an international monitor with a knife in the street while a brigade of other fighters controlled a hotel housing the main observation teams.

Farther west, in Bani Walid, the last bastion of support for Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, local officials were vowing armed resistance if the interim government tried to send soldiers or police officers to protect the polls.

Libya has been riven for decades by recurring battles among regions and tribes, each vying for a cut of the oil wealth and other privileges.

Many here still hope that the election of a new national congress, scheduled for Saturday, will offer a more peaceful way to resolve differences and divvy up the spoils without the iron fist or outstretched palms of the Qaddafi government.

And if Libya succeeds in building a new democracy, it will become not only a rarity in the Arab world, but also unique among the major oil exporters of the developing world.

But even before the voters head to the polls, the forces of tribal and regional rivalry that have driven Libyan politics for more than half a century are endangering the dream of a fresh start. In every neighborhood or town in the country, politicians say, residents complain that they were "marginalized" for decades under Colonel Qaddafi and deprived of their share of Libya's wealth. And from the revolution's birthplace here in Benghazi to Colonel Qaddafi's last citadel in Bani Walid, many discontents now say that they fear new neglect under a more democratic Libya.

"Politics in Libya has been all about patronage," said Diederik Vandewalle, a Libya scholar at Dartmouth College visiting Tripoli for the vote, "and it is only going to intensify after the election."

On Friday, people in eastern Libya protesting the election shut down three major oil facilities and cut off half the flow of Libya's oil exports, Reuters reported. There were brawls on the streets of Benghazi between supporters of the election and those favoring a boycott. And other demonstrators continued to block the coastal road connecting the country's east and west, shutting off almost all traffic.

Voter registration has been high: 2.8 million, or about 85 percent of eligible voters in a country of about 6 million. But in dozens of interviews in recent days, almost no one could name the candidate, among more than 3,700 competing, for whom he or she planned to vote. Most said proudly that they intended to choose the best candidate for Libya, and several admitted an intention to vote for a candidate who belonged to his tribe or family.

"We are racist and each will vote for his own tribe--and not only his own tribe, but the family within the tribe closest to his," said Abdel Salem Ijfara, 57, a member of the Warfalla tribe from Bani Walid.

The party of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Libyan branch of the 84-year-old Egyptian Islamist organization, may be the best organized. But when it called a rally for the last official night of the campaign in the center of Tripoli, the capital, on Thursday, only about 150 people turned up.