Libya: Parliament agrees direct presidential election

Libya’s new parliament agreed on Tuesday that the next president would be elected by a popular vote as lawmakers sought to overcome a confrontation between two armed factions.

It is hoped that the new parliament will open space for negotiations between rival militias and their political backers and return Libya to stability after a month of clashes that turned Tripoli and Benghazi into battlefields.

The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly for the new president to be directly elected by the Libyan people as it seeks to put the country back on track towards democracy, three years after Muammar Gaddafi’s fall in an uprising.

No date has been set for the election.

“We have made the decision on electing the president directly, but we have not set a date for the vote until we discuss the current crisis and see how stable the situation is,” Fatthallah Saiti, a lawmaker, told reporters.

Three years after Gaddafi’s rule ended, Libya’s fragile government has been caught in political infighting that paralyzed the last parliament and empowered rival brigades of ex-rebels.

Tripoli was calmer on Tuesday with none of the shelling and rocket fire of recent days. A international delegation has been holding talks with the two factions in an attempt to broker a ceasefire.

Source: Reuters