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A Libyan man looks for his name before voting in parliamentary elections in Tripoli, Libya.
A Libyan man looks for his name before voting in parliamentary elections in Tripoli, Libya. Photograph: Sabri Elmhedwi/EPA
A Libyan man looks for his name before voting in parliamentary elections in Tripoli, Libya. Photograph: Sabri Elmhedwi/EPA

Disillusionment mars Libya's national poll

This article is more than 9 years old
Voters are faced with an overwhelming range of candidates and issues, with the spectre of civil war hanging over proceedings

Mohammed Abu Baker fought for democracy with a gun in his hand during Libya's Arab Spring revolution, but when the chance came to vote in Wednesday's general election he chose not to take it.

Disillusioned by the failure of democratic government to solve the county's chaos, the 21-year-old student decided against casting a ballot for the second parliamentary election since the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi.

"I didn't bother to register this time around, and that should tell you everything," he said, sitting in a cafe on a sun-drenched square in downtown Tripoli. "My friends were killed in the revolution, we paid in blood for this democracy, but what was the result of the [previous] election? Candidates make big promises, but when they get the power, nothing."

Abu Baker is not alone. Less than half of the 3.5 million Libyans who registered to vote for the first elections in 2012 bothered to do so on Wednesday. Across the capital polling stations were quiet, with none of the bunting, festivities and long lines seen two years ago.

The dismay is easy to understand. Libyans have looked aghast at the squabbling in the last parliament, polarised between Islamists and their foes, and many think the new parliament will do little better in an atomised political landscape.

In an effort to restore faith in democracy, parliament has a new name, the House of Representatives taking the place of the discredited General National Congress. It will also have a new location, moving to the eastern capital, Benghazi, and a new set up, with political parties banned and candidates standing as independents.

But the resulting campaigns have set a new benchmark for confusion, with voters having to guess the affiliations of a galaxy of candidates. "I didn't vote because I didn't know any of the candidates," said Azerdine, a former political prisoner, in central Tripoli. "Political parties have a bad name, but at least with parties you know what you are voting for."

Not all Libyans feel the same way. Among a trickle of voters at Tripoli's polling station 58, a primary school on the city's main Omar Mukhtar boulevard, Osama bin Zehir and his wife Rime arrived with their three year-old-daughter. "I'm very disappointed with how things are, so many things, I can't explain them all to you," said Bin Zehir, shaking his head. "But if you don't vote, how can you change things?"

The steel doors of the polling station carries two lists of candidates; one poster in orange with the names of 28 male candidates, the second poster in purple showing the eight female candidates. The door is pock-marked with bullet holes from the revolution, a reminder both of the intensity of fighting, and of the failure of government to make necessary repairs.

"A lot of people are too disappointed to vote, so we have been going around telling them: 'You should vote if you want to change things.,'" said Rina. "I am optimistic, revolutions take time."

Diplomats say, with the spectre of civil war hovering, these elections may be Libya's last chance to reconnect with democracy. That war has arguably already broken out in eastern Libya, where former general Khalifa Hiftar, backed by army and air force units, has been pounding Islamist militia bases he accuses of harbouring terrorists.

His offensive, Operation Dignity, has drawn mixed feelings from Libyans, many fearing both the militias and the prospect of them being replaced by military rule. The caretaker government, which will stay in office possibly for many months until the new parliament forms a workable coalition, is urging Libyans to stick to the democratic project.

Acting foreign minister Wafa Bugaighis said: "This is the message we are saying, that any fight against terrorism has to be under the umbrella of the Libyan government."

International observers agree. Mattia Toaldo, of the European Council of Foreign Relations, said: "The election is really the last chance to have a power-sharing agreement, some kind of functioning democratic government. The alternative is a protracted stalemate and eruptions of violence."

Whatever parliament emerges from Wednesday's election will have the in-tray from hell, with violence and kidnapping prevalent across much of the country. Hiftar's forces declared a ceasefire for polling day, but have vowed to continue their campaign against Islamists.

Meanwhile smuggling gangs are exploiting the disorder to funnel record numbers of migrants through Libya for the perilous voyage to Europe across the Mediterranean.

And hanging over everyone's head is the continuing blockade of Libya's oil ports by striking militias which has strangled government finances and brought with it the prospect of economic collapse.

For Abu Baker, the missing ingredient is consensus. "In the revolution, we all had the same idea, we all knew what we were fighting for. I miss this feeling."

More on this story

More on this story

  • Libyan renegade general Khalifa Haftar claims he is winning his war

  • Salwa Bugaighis, Libyan human rights activist, shot dead in Benghazi

  • Capture of Benghazi attack suspect conjures mixed feelings in Libyan city

  • Libyan renegade general Khalifa Haftar claims he is winning his war

  • Benghazi suicide bomb targets rogue Libyan general's fighters

  • With Libya's return to war, democratic dream is all but ruined

  • Red Cross staff member killed in Libya

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