The proposal of the head of the High National Elections Commission (HNEC), Emad Al-Sayeh, to re-map and increase the constituencies in Libya had sparked controversy amongst the Libyan people. It raised a question about the reasons behind the proposal because of the political crises in the country.
The proposal had talked about dividing the country into 32 main constituencies and 98 municipalities. It had deepened the constitutional crisis because Al-Sayeh had intervened and provided the proposal while it is not his responsibility to do so.
On the other hand, the constitutional rule issue had caused a problem between the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) and the House of Representatives (HoR). Both confuse the observers and public opinion, and no one knows which one would succeed in imposing the decision.
Nevertheless, Al-Sayeh had provided his proposal after convincing the head of the HoR, Ageela Saleh, to support it.
There are two main criteria in Al-Sayeh’s proposal: demographic and geography. But it had ignored the political crisis side. Some say it is better to keep the original system with its initial problems to come to the elections with lesser troubles. Adopting Al-Sayeh’s proposal would create more and deeper concerns in the crisis.
The crisis is not the controversy between the LPDF and the HoR only. It is deeper than that, as the word controversy becomes a light expression in describing the issue. There are controversies inside the LPDF on the one hand and inside the HoR on the other hand.
Moreover, there is the High State Council (HSC) and its problems with the HoR. The HSC says it has the right to join the HoR to come to a solution and decide on the constitutional rule.
From its side, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) is leading the LPDF meetings to sort out the constitutional rule issue. But on the other hand, the UNSMIL advises the HoR and the HSC to collaborate to find a solution.
The chaotic scene shows that the UNSMIL is confused about where to start, especially after Al-Sayeh’s intervention.
Observers say that the Al-Sayeh-Ageela alliance is trying to play the game of constituencies to let the war criminal, General Khalifa Haftar, become the country’s president. All this happens under the eyes of the UNSMIL.
The observers add that if the UNSMIL wouldn’t end this chaos, the country might return to a big war, more complicated than Haftar’s war on Tripoli.
