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By Seraj Essul.
Tripoli, 9 May 2014:
Mayors have been elected for six more new municipalities in a grand . . .[restrict]swearing-in session at Tripoli’s Waddan Hotel yesterday. After the seven councillors from each of the six places – Al-Qala, Ashwerif, Bir Al-Ashhab, Emslata, Ghadames and Wazin – were sworn in separately by the acting Minister of Local Government, Salah Said, they then elected their mayor at their first formal meeting.
Khairi Al-Shawish was elected mayor of Al-Qala, Hassan Sultan Al-Qaddafi at Ashwerif where he topped the poll, Fathallah Younis Khattam at Bir Al-Ashhab (he likewise topped the poll there), Hisham Sweidan at Emslata, Yaqoub Duwayi at Ghadames and Masoud Sanam at Wazen.
In five of the new municipalities, there were no elections because there was only one candidate; councillors had decided in advance who the mayor should be. In Emslata, however, there were four candidates from among the seven councillors.
Sweidan won with the other candidates getting one vote each.
There was, however, much satisfaction among all those taking part in the event – members of the Central Committee for Municipal Elections, including its chairman Otman Gajii, and of local committees, elders from the various communities and members of the public – that there was such an election. It was viewed as a healthy aspect of Libya’s new democracy.
In speeches at the ceremony, the creation of the municipal councils was also described as an important step towards the decentralisation of Libya. [/restrict]
