(Bloomberg) — Libya’s first-ever presidential vote looks likely to be delayed, as a parliamentary committee said holding it on Friday would be impossible.
The parliamentary body tasked with overseeing the vote made the judgment after consulting technical, judicial and security reports, it said Wednesday in a statement. No alternative date was suggested.
Local outlets including Fawasel Media cited the head of the election commission as saying key officials at the organization had resigned amid a failure to hold the vote on time. TV channel 218 later reported the commission denied that.
The election was a key step following long-running United Nations-brokered talks aimed at ending a decade of conflict that ravaged the North African OPEC nation and battered its economy.
Among those who registered to run for president are a son of Libya’s former autocratic leader Moammar Al Qaddafi, eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar and Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, the prime minister of the unity government.
(Updates with committee statement from first paragraph.)
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