‘Bordering on insanity’: Why Libya’s election could incite violence it was meant to abate

Polls are unlikely to happen next week as planned and analysts fear chaos could lead to clashes, reports Borzou Daragahi

People protesting against the candidacy of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi in Libya’s capital Tripoli (AFP via Getty)

There is only a week to go until Libya’s scheduled presidential and parliamentary elections, yet no candidates have been officially confirmed, few believe the polls will take place, and regardless of whether they happen, there is a grave threat of political violence.

The elections have long been touted as a way to restore order and unity to a nation ravaged by terrorism, divided by war and degraded by economic ruin, but the build-up has been dogged by disagreements over the vote’s legality and eligibility of some of the frontrunners.

In recent days, rival militias in the capital, Tripoli, have deployed convoys of machine-gun mounted pickups, threatening each other as well as the interim government of Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, the current prime minister and one of the main candidates for the planned vote on 24 December.