Cairo: Libya’s recently elected Presidency Council has given the go-ahead to embark on preparations for holding long-awaited elections in the country.
An interim administration is tasked with preparing for Libya’s presidential and legislative elections scheduled for December 24.
The three-member council, led by Mohmmed Menfi, Wednesday held its first meeting online.
The council will invite the head of an electoral commission for talks next week, its media office said. “The consultation talks aim at ensuring the best circumstances for the next elections so that they will be held as scheduled,’’ it added.
Libyan forum
Earlier this month, a 74-member Libyan forum voted in a UN-sponsored process in Switzerland to elect a presidency council and a prime minister to prepare for the elections.
Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibeh was elected as prime minister and Menfi as head of the Presidency Council. The selection has rekindled hopes for ending the country’s decades-long conflict.
Libya descended into chaos after a 2011 NATO-supported armed revolt that toppled Muammar Gaddafi, who had ruled the country for 42 years.
After Gaddafi’s overthrow and ensuing killing, Libya was split up among rival militias amid an inflow of arms into the country.
