Libyan parliamentary election, 2012

Last updated

Libyan General National Congress election, 2012
Flag of Libya.svg
←  1965 7 July 2012 2014  →
200 seats in the General National Congress
(80 seats for political parties, 120 for individual candidates)
101 seats needed for a majority

 First partySecond partyThird party
  Mahmoud Jibril - World Economic Forum Special Meeting on Economic Growth and Job Creation in the Arab World cropped GNC.png Megariaf cropped GNC.jpg
Leader Mahmoud Jibril Mohamed Sowan Mohamed el-Magariaf
Party NFA JCP NFP
Leader since201220112011
Seats won39173
Popular vote714,769152,52160,592
Percentage48.1%10.3%4.1%
 Fourth partyFifth partySixth party
  Ali Tarhouni cropped GNC.jpg
Leader Abdelrahman Sewehli Ali Tarhouni –
Party UFH NCP Wadi Al-Hayah Party
Leader since201220122012
Seats won222
Popular vote66,77259,4176,947
Percentage4.5%4.0%0.5%
Libya location map.svg
Prime Minister before election

Abdurrahim El-Keib
Independent

Elected Prime Minister

Ali Zeidan
NPFDW

Libya
Flag of Libya.svg
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Libya

Elections for a General National Congress (GNC) [1] were held in Libya on 7 July 2012, having been postponed from 19 June. [2] [3] [4] Once elected, the General National Congress was to appoint a Prime Minister and Cabinet. [5] The GNC was originally to be charged with appointing a Constituent Assembly to draw up Libya's new constitution, but the National Transitional Council (NTC) announced on 5 July that the Assembly would instead be directly elected at a later date. [4]

Libya Country in north Africa

Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa, bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad to the south, Niger to the southwest, Algeria to the west, and Tunisia to the northwest. The sovereign state is made of three historical regions: Tripolitania, Fezzan and Cyrenaica. With an area of almost 1.8 million square kilometres (700,000 sq mi), Libya is the fourth largest country in Africa, and is the 16th largest country in the world. Libya has the 10th-largest proven oil reserves of any country in the world. The largest city and capital, Tripoli, is located in western Libya and contains over one million of Libya's six million people. The second-largest city is Benghazi, which is located in eastern Libya.

General National Congress

The General National Congress was the legislative authority of Libya for two years following the end of the First Libyan Civil War. It was elected by popular vote on 7 July 2012, and took power from the National Transitional Council on 8 August.

Cabinet of Libya

The Cabinet of Libya serves as the leadership for the executive branch of the government of Libya.

Contents

Despite threats of a boycott, a majority of Libyans (61.58%) [6] cast a ballot. However, the election was marred by violence, protests and a number of deaths. [7] [8]

Electoral system

A draft election law was published on 1 January 2012 on the website of the High National Election Commission, after which public comments were accepted. The draft law proposed electing 200 representatives, of which at least 10% should be women, unless fewer than 10% of candidates were women. Members of the NTC and Jamahiriya government members, including relatives of Muammar Gaddafi, were barred from running. [9] [10]

The second draft abolished the women's quota and allowed local NTC council members to run in the election; it also changed the electoral system from countrywide to constituency-based. [11] Following further protests against restrictions for dual nationals and other issues, the release of the electoral law was again postponed to 28 January 2012. [12] The NTC also sought the input of the Libyan Women's Platform for Peace, who had proposed an alternative electoral law and criticized the official draft on four key points relating to dual nationals, lack of a women's quota, inadequate countermeasures against corruption and the risk of incentivizing tribal party formation. [13] [ third-party source needed ]

An electoral district, (election) precinct, election district, or legislative district, called a voting district by the US Census is a territorial subdivision for electing members to a legislative body. Generally, only voters (constituents) who reside within the district are permitted to vote in an election held there. From a single district, a single member or multiple members might be chosen. Members might be chosen by a first-past-the-post system or a proportional representative system, or another voting method entirely. Members might be chosen through a direct election under universal suffrage, an indirect election, or another form of suffrage.

A new electoral law was finally drafted on 28–29 January 2012. The election system will be a form of parallel voting, with 64 constituency seats (with independent candidates only) and 136 list seats for party lists. Lists will have to alternate between male and female candidates, in effect ensuring a women's quota. The age required to stand for election was lowered to 21 years, and citizens with dual nationality will be allowed to vote and run in the election. [14] [15] Further changes were later made, changing the ratio to 120 constituency seats and 80 list seats, reportedly in an attempt to reduce the Muslim Brotherhood's influence in the new parliament. [16] The 120 constituency seats would be elected from 69 constituencies, whilst the 80 list seats would be elected in 20 constituencies. [17]

Parallel voting describes a mixed electoral system where voters in effect participate in two separate elections for a single chamber using different systems, and where the results in one election have little or no impact on the results of the other.

Party-list proportional representation family of voting systems

Party-list proportional representation systems are a family of voting systems emphasizing proportional representation (PR) in elections in which multiple candidates are elected through allocations to an electoral list. They can also be used as part of mixed additional member systems.

Cumulative voting is a multiple-winner voting method intended to promote more proportional representation than winner-take-all elections.

Voter registration

Registration of voters, parties participating in elections and independent candidates started at 1 May, and was due to finish on 14 May. However, following a call for a boycott of the process by the Council of Cyrenaica, which is seeking autonomy for parts of eastern Libya around the city of Benghazi, the deadline was extended until 21 May. [18] In total 2,865,937 voters, or 80% of the estimated 3 million to 3.5 million electorate, registered for the elections. [5] The registration process was supervised by the United Nations Support Mission in Libya.< [19]

Benghazi City in Cyrenaica, Libya

Benghazi is the second-most populous city in Libya and the largest in Cyrenaica.

United Nations Support Mission in Libya organization


The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) is a United Nations advanced mission in Libya, in the aftermath of the Libyan Civil War. UNSMIL is not a military mission, but a political one led by the Department of Political Affairs. It aims to help the National Transitional Council rebuild the State of Law and other institutions. Its mandate was last extended on 13 September 2018 to last until 15 September 2019.

Minority groups, such as the Tawerghans, who had been accused of supporting former leader Muammar Gaddafi, said that the election was futile as they are marginalised. They also added that voter registration was difficult. [20] Yet about 90 percent of Tawerghans living in Janzour Naval Academy refugee camp registered to vote. [21]

Campaign

A total of 374 party lists registered to contest the 80 party list seats, together with 2,639 candidates for the 120 constituency seats. [17] The four parties that were expected to dominate the election are the National Front Party, the Justice and Construction Party, the National or Homeland Party and the National Forces Alliance. The National Front Party is linked to the National Front for the Salvation of Libya (NFSL), a former anti-Gaddafi resistance group formed in the 1980s. It is led by Mohamed el-Magariaf, an intellectual based in Eastern Libya. The Justice and Construction Party is the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Libya. The Homeland Party is an Islamist party as well, led by the Islamic cleric Ali al-Sallabi and Abdelhakim Belhadj, the former emir of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG). The National Forces Alliance is a liberal umbrella coalition around ex-interim prime minister Mahmoud Jibril, who himself did not run for a seat in the GNC. [22] [23]

The Libyan Popular National Movement, a political party supporting the policies of Gaddafi, was banned from participating in the elections.[ citation needed ]

Conduct

Voting was disrupted in some parts of the country, with 6% of the 6,629 polling stations unable to open normally. [5] [24] However all but eight polling stations managed to open up for voters during the day and the remaining eight, including two in the Kufra area, which had seen clashes between Toubous and government forces, opened the following day. [25] In the Benghazi area a polling station was attacked by activists seeking autonomy for the east of the country and an election official was killed by a gun attack on a helicopter carrying voting materials on the day before the election. [5] In eastern Libya former rebels closed five oil terminals at Brega, Ra's Lanuf and Sidra for 48 hours in an attempt to disrupt the elections. [5] [26] In Ajdabiya a pro-federalism protester was shot dead by locals when he tried to steal a ballot box from a polling station. [27] Officials with the HNEC were denied access to Bani Walid by tribal Gaddafi loyalists who control the city, and could not monitor the voting process. [28]

Around 1.7 million of 2.8 million registered voters participated in the elections. [25]

Results

According to first counts, the liberal National Forces Alliance did well in the northern areas except Misrata, whereas the race was more even in the south. The other key contenders were the Islamic Justice and Construction Party, which came in second, and Al-Watan, which in the end won no seats at all. [29]

On 17 July, the High National Election Commission announced provisional results. Mahmoud Jibril's National Forces Alliance (NFA) received 48.1%, taking 39 out of the 80 party-list seats. This was followed by the Justice and Construction Party (JCP), which received 10.3% and 17 seats and third was the National Front Party with 4.1% and three seats. The Union for the Homeland and the National Centrist Party also took two seats, as did the Wadi Al-Hayah Party for Democracy and Development. Fifteen other parties won one party list seat each. [30] [31]

The affiliation of the 120 independents is obscure but the election for Prime Minister gave some indication: in the first round Mahmoud Jibril (NFA) got 86 votes, Mustafa Abushagur (independent) got 55 votes and Awad Barasi (JCP) got 41 votes. [32] Then Abushagur defeated Jibril with 96 to 94. It is estimated that 25 independents are associated with the NFA, 17 with Justice and Construction, and 23 are Salafis. [33]

e  •  d  Summary of Libyan General National Congress election results, 2012
PartiesVotes%Seats
National Forces Alliance 714,76948.14%39
Justice and Construction 152,44110.27%17
National Front 60,5924.08%3
Union for the Homeland 66,7724.50%2
National Centrist Party 59,4174.00%2
Wadi Al-Hayah Party 6,9470.47%2
Moderate Ummah Assembly21,8251.47%1
Authenticity and Renewal18,7451.26%1
National Party For Development and Welfare 17,1581.16%1
Al-Hekma (Wisdom) Party17,1291.15%1
Authenticity and Progress13,6790.92%1
Libyan National Democratic Party13,0920.88%1
National Parties Alliance12,7350.86%1
Ar-Resalah (The Message)7,8600.53%1
Centrist Youth Party7,3190.49%1
Libya Al-'Amal (Libya – The Hope)6,0930.41%1
Labaika National Party3,4720.23%1
Libyan Party for Liberty and Development2,6910.18%1
Arrakeeza (The Foundation)1,5250.10%1
Nation and Prosperity1,4000.09%1
National Party of Wadi ash-Shati 1,3550.09%1
Al-Watan (Homeland Party)51,2923.45%0
Others218,56214.72%0
Independents--120
Valid votes1,484,72384.13%–
Invalid/blank votes280,11715.87%–
Total (turnout 61.58%)1,764,840100%200
Registered voters2,865,937
Sources: Libya Herald , Project on Middle East Democracy,
High National Election Commission

Related Research Articles

Politics of Libya

The Politics of Libya is in an uncertain state due to the collapse of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya in 2011 and an ongoing civil war between the Council of Deputies in Tobruk and its supporters, the New General National Congress in Tripoli and its supporters, and various jihadists and tribal elements controlling parts of the country.

Elections in Greece gives information on elections and election results in Greece.

Elections in Bhutan

Elections in Bhutan are conducted at national (Parliamentary) and local levels. Suffrage is universal for citizens 18 and over, and under applicable election laws. In national elections, political party participation is mainly restricted to the lower house of Parliament, and by extension, to the executive nominated by its majority.

Elections in Jordan

Elections in Jordan are for the lower house, known as the House of Representatives, of the bicameral parliament of Jordan, as well as for local elections. They take place within a political system where the King has extensive legislative and executive powers, retaining ultimate political control. The Prime Minister is selected by the King, the PM is then free to choose his own Cabinet. The parliament has quotas: three seats for Circassians and Chechens, nine for Christians and fifteen for women. The electoral system favours rural tribes and those of East Bank origin over urban areas that are primarily inhabited by those of Palestinian descent.

Elections in the United Kingdom types of elections in the United Kingdom

There are six types of elections in the United Kingdom: elections to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elections to devolved parliaments and assemblies, elections to the European Parliament, local elections, mayoral elections and Police and Crime Commissioner elections. Within each of those categories, there may be by-elections as well as general elections. Elections are held on Election Day, which is conventionally a Thursday. Since the passing of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 for general elections, all six types of elections are held after fixed periods, though early elections to parliament and the devolved assemblies and parliaments can occur in certain situations. Currently, six electoral systems are used: the single member plurality system, the multi member plurality system, party-list proportional representation, the single transferable vote, the additional member system and the supplementary vote.

National Transitional Council de facto government of Libya from 2011 to 2012

The National Transitional Council of Libya, sometimes known as the Transitional National Council, was the de facto government of Libya for a period during and after the Libyan Civil War, in which rebel forces overthrew the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya of Muammar Gaddafi. The NTC governed Libya for a period of ten months after the end of the war, holding elections to a General National Congress on 7 July 2012, and handing power to the newly elected assembly on 8 August.

Mahmoud Jibril Prime Minister of the Libyan Republic, one of two entities currently 2011 Libyan civil war

Mahmoud Jibril el-Warfally, also transcribed Jabril or Jebril or Gebril, is a Libyan politician who served as the interim Prime Minister of Libya for seven and a half months during the Libyan Civil War, chairing the executive board of the National Transitional Council from 5 March to 23 October 2011. He also served as the Head of International Affairs. As of July 2012, Jibril is the head of one of the largest political parties in Libya, National Forces Alliance.

Ali Tarhouni Libyan politician

Ali Abdussalam Tarhouni is a Libyan economist and politician. Tarhouni served as the minister for oil and finance on the National Transitional Council, the provisional governing authority in Libya, from 23 March to 22 November 2011. He acted in the capacity of interim prime minister of Libya during the departure of outgoing incumbent Mahmoud Jibril from 23 October 2011 until Abdurrahim El-Keib was formally named to succeed Jibril on 31 October.

2014 Libyan parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Libya on 25 June 2014 for the House of Representatives. Whilst all candidates ran as independents, the elections saw nationalist and liberal factions win the majority of seats, with Islamist groups being reduced to only around 30 seats. Election turnout was very low at 18%.

Aftermath of the 2011 Libyan Civil War

The aftermath of the Libyan Civil War has been characterized by marked change in the social and political order of Libya after the overthrow and killing of Muammar Gaddafi in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. The country has been subject to ongoing proliferation of weapons, Islamic insurgencies, sectarian violence, and lawlessness, with spillovers affecting neighboring countries including Mali.

Mohammed Magariaf Libyan politician

Mohammed Yousef el-Magariaf, or, as he writes on his official website, Dr. Mohamed Yusuf Al Magariaf is a Libyan politician who served as the President of the General National Congress from its first meeting in August 2012 until his resignation in May 2013. In this role he was effectively Libya's de facto head of state, until his resignation in May 2013.

Mustafa A.G. Abushagur Libyas Prime Minister

Mustafa A.G. Abushagur is a Libyan politician, professor of electrical engineering, university president and entrepreneur. He served as interim Deputy Prime Minister of Libya from 22 November 2011 to 14 November 2012 in Abdurrahim El-Keib’s cabinet and was briefly elected to succeed El-Keib as Prime Minister in 2012, before failing to receive congressional approval for his cabinet nominees and being removed from office.

Abdulrahman Ben Yezza is a Libyan businessman and politician who is the Oil Minister in the government of Abdurrahim El-Keib. Prior to the 2011 Libyan Civil War, Ben Yezza served as "chairman of the operator's management committee" for Italian oil company Eni. He also worked for Libya's National Oil Corporation during Libya's governance by Muammar Gaddafi, but he quit the company voluntarily due to reported differences with its then-leader Shokri Ghanem, a member of Gaddafi's inner circle. In 2014 the Libyan government has named Abdulrahman Ben Yezza as chairman of the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA). He temporarily replaced AmbdulMagid Breish who had to step out pending investigation into his role in the Gaddafi administration.

National Forces Alliance

The National Forces Alliance is a political alliance in Libya. The alliance was created in February 2012. It includes 58 political organisations, 236 NGOs, and more than 280 independents. The alliance is of predominantly liberal tendency. It calls for "moderate Islam" and a "democratic, civil state".

National Front Party (Libya) political party

The new NFP leader is Abdalla G Elrifadi

2013 Jordanian general election

Early general elections were held in Jordan on 23 January 2013. Voter turnout was reported to be 56.6%.

2014 Libyan Constitutional Assembly election

Constitutional Assembly elections took place in Libya on 20 February 2014. Nominations for elections to the constituent assembly started on 6 October 2013; registration for candidates to the assembly was over as of 11 November 2013. The assembly will be composed of 20 members each from Libya's three regions: Tripolitania, Cyrenaica and Fezzan. The work of the committee is expected to last from March 2014 until July 2014. The constitutional declaration submitted in August 2011 by the formerly ruling National Transitional Council indicated that Congress itself would appoint the commission; however the General National Congress (GNC) voted instead to hold an election for the selection of individuals to the constitutional commission. The constitutional commission will draw up the constitution, which will then be up for vote in a referendum. As of early January 2014, 1,001,910 voters had registered via SMS.

2014 European Parliament election in the Netherlands

The 2014 European Parliament election for the election of the delegation from the Netherlands was held on 22 May 2014. This is the 8th time the elections have been held for the European elections in the Netherlands.

Apportionment in the Hellenic Parliament refers to those provisions of the Greek electoral law relating to the distribution of Greece's 300 parliamentary seats to the parliamentary constituencies, as well as to the method of seat allocation in Greek legislative elections for the various political parties. The electoral law was codified for the first time through a 2012 Presidential Decree. Articles 1, 2, and 3 deal with how the parliamentary seats are allocated to the various constituencies, while articles 99 and 100 legislate the method of parliamentary apportionment for political parties in an election. In both cases, Greece uses the largest remainder method.

References

  1. ↑ "Q&A: Libya's General National Congress election", BBC News , 7 July 2012
  2. ↑ Libya elections postponed to July 7 Gulf News, 11 June 2012
  3. ↑ "Libya: Transitional authorities to hold election 19 June", AfriqueJet, 28 April 2012
  4. 1 2 Gumuchian, Marie-Louise, and Hadeel Al Shalchi. "Libyans celebrate free vote despite violence". Reuters. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Libya election: Historic vote amid tensions, BBC News, 7 July 2012
  6. ↑ "National Congress party results -". www.libyaherald.com.
  7. ↑ "Boycott calls and unrest raise fear of violence on eve of Libya's first election". 6 July 2012.
  8. ↑ Press, Associated (1 July 2012). "Libyan militia storm election office in Benghazi as violence spreads". the Guardian.
  9. ↑ "Libya citizens linked to Muammar Gaddafi can't run in election: draft bill". 2 January 2012.
  10. ↑ "Mahmoud Jibril: From Libya's spokesman to its kingmaker" – via The Globe and Mail.
  11. ↑ Holmes, Oliver (20 January 2012), Libya drops election quota for women, Reuters
  12. ↑ Libya postpones adopting election law, News24.com, 22 January 2012
  13. ↑ News Flash: NTC Considering Draft Electoral Law Proposed by Libyan Women’s Platform for Peace, Shabab Libya, 25 January 2012
  14. ↑ Lamloum, Imed (28 January 2012), Libya's NTC adopts election law, drops women quota, AFP
  15. ↑ Mo Hong'e (29 January 2012), Libya's NTC announces new electoral law, Xinhua
  16. ↑ Eljarh, Mohamed (1 February 2012), "The Libyan Elections Law 2012 and the Muslim Brotherhood", Middle East Online
  17. 1 2 "Libya elections: Do any of the parties have a plan?". BBC News. 6 July 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
  18. ↑ Libya extends voter registration amid boycott call Daily Star (Lebanon), 13 May 2012
  19. ↑ Final registration count at more than 2.7 million voters Libya Herald, 23 May 2012
  20. ↑ Tawerghans cast doubt over Libya election Al Jazeera, 3 June 2012
  21. ↑ The election at the Tawergha camp in the Janzour Naval Academy, Libya Herald
  22. ↑ Coker, Margaret (22 June 2012), "Libya Election Panel Battles Ghosts", The Wall Street Journal
  23. ↑ Khan, Umar (5 June 2012), "Libya's delayed elections are hard to call", The Guardian, retrieved 2 July 2012
  24. ↑ Daily statistics from 1 to 21 May 2012 Archived 4 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine ., High National Election Commission.
  25. 1 2 Election: 1.7 million Libyans voted; polling continues in 8 centres today, Libya Herald, 8 July 2012
  26. ↑ Protests and tears of joy mark free Libyan poll, Reuters
  27. ↑ Libyan anti-poll protester shot dead in clash, Reuters
  28. ↑ Libyans vote in first election in more than 40 years Truth Out
  29. ↑ Soguel, Dominique (8 July 2012), Jibril urges unity as Libya wraps up vote count, AFP
  30. ↑ National Forces Alliance sweeps party lists as election results finally announced, Libya Herald, 17 July 2012.
  31. ↑ National Congress Party Results, Libya Herald, 18 July 2012.
  32. ↑ "Abushagur elected as Prime Minister -". www.libyaherald.com.
  33. ↑ "Research paper" (PDF). www.swp-berlin.org.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.