Libya Upper House Calls for Delaying Elections

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The upper house of Libya's parliament called for postponing the December-scheduled presidential elections for a year due to controversy regarding the Libyan electoral law.

The North African Arab country is scheduled to hold legislative and presidential elections on December 24 under a UN-brokered deal between Libya's rival camps.

Earlier this month, Aguila Saleh, the speaker for Libya's parliament, ratified an electoral law regarding the presidential vote, which put him under fire for not presenting a final draft of the law for the assembly to vote on.

Those opposed to Saleh accuse him of attempting to push legislation to serve the interest of Khalifa Haftar, the leader of the Libyan National Army.

Khalid al-Mishri, the head of the High Council of State, rejected Monday legislation that he asserted had been passed "without a legal vote or consensus."

He did not see that the House had passed a law for the presidential elections. Additionally, according to Mishri, presidential elections "would not produce stability in Libya at the present time."

He said the December 24-proposed parliamentary elections were the product of the UN-brokered talks. The HCS proposed to them another year to reach an agreement on a new constitution before scheduling presidential elections. 

After a transitional process led by the UN and a decline in violence, hope sparked in and around Libya regarding its future, following a decade of violence sparked by the assassination of Libyan President Mummar Gaddafi in 2011 caused by a NATO military intervention in the country.

However, analysts warn that the presence of foreign forces on either side of the Libyan rival camps could hinder peace efforts and obstruct chances for peace.