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By Umar Khan.
Tripoli, 12 September:
The vote to elect the next prime minister of Libya by the General National Congress is to go ahead as scheduled according to the head of the GNC, Mohamed Magarief. There were concerns that the vote will be postponed after it was reported that the American Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed along with three other staff members when the US mission was attacked by armed men last night.
The GNC will now be holding the vote in a session that is scheduled to start later today. The GNC members will chose from the eight nominees, in a series of rounds, and the winner will be elected by clear majority. The main competition is said to be between Mahmoud Jibril, Awad Barassi and Mustafa Abushagur. All three have been part of the transitional government system set up after the formation of the NTC in one position or the other.
The names will be put to vote and if no one wins a clear majority, a further round of voting will be done between the leading contestants. It is not clear who will make it to the second round just yet. However, after last night’s attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, there is a chance of some last minute changes to the blocs and established positions of different candidates given the nature and sensitivity of the Benghazi incident.
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