By Michel Cousins.
Tripoli, 1 May 2014:
New mayors were elected for another four of Libya’s new municipalities at . . .[restrict]a series of inaugurations at Tripoli’s Waddan hotel today.
After members of the new municipal councils were separately sworn in by the acting Minister of Local Government, Salah Said, each council then formally met and elected its new mayor – Adel Sulaiman Asker for Nalut, Mohamed Bakuri for Traghen, Nurideen Said Mufta for Kikla and Mohamed Nasr Abduljalil for Braq Al-Shatti.
Attending the ceremonies were the Deputy President of Congress, Salah Makhzoum, as well as members of Congress representing the municipalities concerned.
Nalut and Brak Al-Shatti elected their municipal councils a fortnight ago. Kikla and Traghen did so in December, but the official results had to be delayed in the run-up to the Constitutional Assembly elections on 20 February because the Public Official Standards Commission was wholly occupied verifying candidates for that body.
“We now have 16 democratically elected mayors and elections have taken place for 48 municipalities,” said Otman Gajiji, Chairman of the Central Committee for Municipal Council Elections (CCMCE). Altogether, he added, 980,000 people had registered to vote in municipal elections – 610000 men and 370,000 women – and of those, 40 percent had voted so far.
“We look forward to finishing what has been a remarkable Libyan success story”, he said, “and I want to thank all the staff who have contributed to these results so far.”
Gajiji added that, in response to local candidates who had asked for more time for campaigning, the elections in Central Tripoli, Hay Andalus, Abu Sleem and Suq Al-Juma due on 10 May were being postponed until 17 May.
Those in Murzuk, Qatrun and Shargiya due on 3 May were also being postponed, until 24 May. [/restrict]
