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| Libyan Vote on Charter Assembly Is Marred by Violence and Low Turnout | Libyan Vote on Charter Assembly Is Marred by Violence and Low Turnout |
| (7 months later) | |
| TRIPOLI, Libya — Libya’s long-delayed efforts to prepare a new charter hit another obstacle on Thursday when elections for a 60-member constitutional drafting committee fell well short of expectations, with a low turnout and 13 of 60 constituencies failing to elect candidates by the end of the day. | |
| Election officials blamed widespread disillusionment with the electoral process caused by political bickering between elected members of the General National Congress. But the muted turnout was also a reflection of Libya’s deteriorating security and growing internal tensions two and a half years after the overthrow of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. | Election officials blamed widespread disillusionment with the electoral process caused by political bickering between elected members of the General National Congress. But the muted turnout was also a reflection of Libya’s deteriorating security and growing internal tensions two and a half years after the overthrow of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. |
| Unlike the general elections in 2012, when Libyans turned out with enthusiasm for their first chance to vote in an election after 42 years of dictatorship, there were more officials and observers than voters on Thursday in some polling stations in the capital around midmorning. Attendance was not helped by lashing rain along the coastal towns in the afternoon. By evening, just short of 500,000 people had voted, less than half of those registered and barely a sixth of the national electorate. | Unlike the general elections in 2012, when Libyans turned out with enthusiasm for their first chance to vote in an election after 42 years of dictatorship, there were more officials and observers than voters on Thursday in some polling stations in the capital around midmorning. Attendance was not helped by lashing rain along the coastal towns in the afternoon. By evening, just short of 500,000 people had voted, less than half of those registered and barely a sixth of the national electorate. |
| Violence was of far greater concern, however, since the drafting of the constitution may not be able to go ahead without sufficient representatives. | Violence was of far greater concern, however, since the drafting of the constitution may not be able to go ahead without sufficient representatives. |
| Voting was aborted in more than half of the polling stations in the area of Derna, a town of 80,000 people in eastern Libya where extremist Islamists hold sway. Five schools serving as polling stations came under attack with firebombs or firearms in the early morning before voting opened. A neighbor at one of the schools who tried to intervene was fatally shot, according to local reports. Ten more polling stations in the town closed in solidarity with the first five. | Voting was aborted in more than half of the polling stations in the area of Derna, a town of 80,000 people in eastern Libya where extremist Islamists hold sway. Five schools serving as polling stations came under attack with firebombs or firearms in the early morning before voting opened. A neighbor at one of the schools who tried to intervene was fatally shot, according to local reports. Ten more polling stations in the town closed in solidarity with the first five. |
| When organizers and voters moved to another school to try to hold the election, armed gunmen arrived, shooting in the air and jostling people to prevent the vote. | When organizers and voters moved to another school to try to hold the election, armed gunmen arrived, shooting in the air and jostling people to prevent the vote. |
| “Some armed people came and starting shooting and telling us not to vote,” one resident said by telephone. He asked not to be named for fear of reprisals from the Islamist extremists who control much of the town and were responsible for the violence. | “Some armed people came and starting shooting and telling us not to vote,” one resident said by telephone. He asked not to be named for fear of reprisals from the Islamist extremists who control much of the town and were responsible for the violence. |
| “This is impossible — you cannot imagine the circumstances we live under,” he said. “This is almost like an occupation from an outside force.” | “This is impossible — you cannot imagine the circumstances we live under,” he said. “This is almost like an occupation from an outside force.” |
| Emad al-Sayeh, the deputy chairman of the National Election Commission, confirmed that extremist Islamists were preventing voting from taking place. “We tried to reach out to them, but they are very strange people,” he said. “They are doing practices that they think are right but have nothing to do with Libyan society or with Islam.” | Emad al-Sayeh, the deputy chairman of the National Election Commission, confirmed that extremist Islamists were preventing voting from taking place. “We tried to reach out to them, but they are very strange people,” he said. “They are doing practices that they think are right but have nothing to do with Libyan society or with Islam.” |
| Islamist militias in Derna and Benghazi who helped fight Colonel Qaddafi’s forces and have maintained armed brigades in the area since have been accused of carrying out numerous attacks and assassinations in recent months. | Islamist militias in Derna and Benghazi who helped fight Colonel Qaddafi’s forces and have maintained armed brigades in the area since have been accused of carrying out numerous attacks and assassinations in recent months. |