Al-Sayeh in execlusive interview: Referendum on constitution differs from general parliamentary and presidential elections.

Tripoli, 14 February, 2021 (Lana) - The head of the High National Election Commission, Imad Al-Sayeh, renewed the commission’s readiness to hold the presidential and parliamentary elections on the scheduled date of December 24. In an exclusive interview with the Libyan News Agency, Al-Sayeh linked the success of the electoral process to the fulfillment of several conditions, including support of the government and its affiliated institutions, from the ministries of education, the interior, and communications, in addition to the Ministry of Health due to the Corona pandemic as a partner in the electoral process to make arrangements for protection at voting centers .  

Regarding the constitutional committee meetings that were held recently in the Egyptian city of Hurghada, Al-Sayeh explained that the referendum on the constitution differs from the general parliamentary and presidential elections that were approved and agreed upon by the interlocutors in the Dialogue Committee in Tunis, which was set for December 24th.

Chairperson of the Commission stated that when we talk about December 24, this means that we are talking about a fourth transitional phase, and not a phase of stability adopted by the constitutional path, as the path of the referendum on the constitution differs from the course of the general elections, because each path has its temporal and spatial stations, as the general elections differ on its path from the draft constitution.

Al-Sayeh pointed out that in the event of a vote to approve "yes" to the draft constitution, then the preliminary stage approved by Article "183" will be returned to, and in case the draft constitution is rejected Al-Sayeh said the draft constitution will be referred back to the Constituent Assembly and if rejected for the second time it should be forwarded to the legislative authority to decide the fate of the draft.

He added that what happened in Hurghada "went to a different path, because we believed that the Constitutional Committee would try to reconcile the two tracks, the referendum on the draft constitution, and the December 24 elections, and to follow what the commission offered in this regard."

Al-Sayeh said that the Commission has offered the Constitutional Committee several alternatives to reconcile between the two tracks, including but not limited to (the referendum coinciding with elections, or the referendum immediately after the elections), but the Constitutional Committee rejected these proposals, because it seems that it has made its decision on the referendum on the constitution should take place before December 24th.

He explained that the Constitutional Committee has a vision of the transitional phase and the electoral benefits that will be accomplished in this year that differs from that of the Commission. Al-Sayeh described the statement issued in the name of the committee as vague and unclear and does not bear any signature or reference in it to the date of December 24, which all Libyans aspire to, especially Article 4 to which the statement refers, that in the event of rejection of the draft constitution, elections will go ahead. This is incorrect.

The head of the High National Elections Commission stated that in the event that the project is rejected, the Commission will find itself at doors of December 24, which is supposed to be ready for the general election laws as early as the month of July at the maximum, which makes the Commission in a confusing position to reconcile between the general elections and the referendum on the constitution.

=Lana=