Libya to vote for national congress

Libyans will vote on Saturday for a constituent assembly, the first body elected since the ouster of former leader Muammar Gadhafi, tasked with steering the country through its critical transition.

The national assembly is expected to replace the ruling National Transitional Council and oversee the drawing-up of a new constitution, the first after a months-long civil war last year that toppled Gadhafi.

"All fundamental questions have to be decided by this elected group of 200 people," said Sami Zaptia, managing editor of Libya Herald. "It is very important. You don't write a constitution every day."

To be chosen is the General National Congress, which will appoint a new interim government and a panel to draft a new constitution for the oil-rich North African nation.

Once the assembly holds its first session, the ruling National Transitional Council, which has run Libya since Gadhafi's ouster and death last year, must step down.

Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, head of a European Union observer mission, said the vote, which was set to be held by June 19 but was postponed for technical reasons, marks a historic opportunity.

"This election is the first opportunity for Libyans to choose their representatives in national polls after decades," he said. "It marks a historic step for the country and its people. Given the vital role the General National Congress has in appointing the body to draft the constitution ... the election is crucial."

Libyan Prime Minister Abdurrahim El-Keib said on Tuesday there will be no mercy for any perpetrators who try to destabilize the upcoming elections.

Libya's national army with the assistance of militia will confront any act of sabotaging the elections, Keib said during a graduation ceremony of the first batch of commando forces of the Libyan Navy in Tripoli.

Libya has not seen elections since the era of late monarch King Idris, whom Gadhafi deposed in a bloodless coup in 1969, making this vote a new experience for many in a country with a mostly young population.

More than 2.7 million people, or around 80 percent of the eligible electorate, have registered to take part in the landmark poll. More than 4,000 people sought to run as candidates. But the electoral commission only approved 2,501 independents and 1,206 party candidates after an intensive vetting process designed to keep out the former remnants of the regime.

There are 629 women running. They are well represented on party lists, which alternate male and female candidates, but make up only 3.4 percent of the individual candidates.

AFP-Xinhua