Libyans celebrate first election despite violence

The Libyans went to the polls yesterday for the first time at liberty to elect the General National Council (parliament), in a historic day not without incidents that hampered voting in some polling stations in the country, especially in the east.An hour before the close of polling, the president of the Supreme Electoral Commission Nuri al-Abar, announced that 1.2 million Libyans, of the 2.8 million recorded in the census, voted at 16.00 local time, then posed a stake exceeding 42 percent. The authorities did not specify when even begin to be the first official results, but are expected on Tuesday.

Al Abar said that despite the incidents and problems that forced to delay opening or close some other centers, 98 percent could open their doors. In total there were 101 schools that could not open. The deputy interior minister, Omar al Jadraui, said security forces did not intervene despite the attacks that were recorded in several polling stations, as in Ajdabiya and Brega, in the east, where he was burned and numerous stolen election materials, forcing the temporary closure of both constituencies.

At Jadraui Ajdabiya explained that the order was restored "after a tense morning" and reported that one person was killed and two wounded in a fight that led to an armed confrontation between the agents manning a school and several armed youths. Security, in a country where many militias hold sway and where there is an efficient control on the presence of weapons, has become a major concern of the authorities, especially after attacks in recent days against polls and local offices of the Supreme Electoral Commission. To prevent accidents, the authorities declared a state of alert and deployed three thousand soldiers and 40,000 security officers, which in some places worked in coordination with militias to provide security. In the morning there was a timid turnout in Benghazi, the second largest city, for fear of possible attacks.

The Interior Ministry accused veiled the "federalists" East of the country of the incidents in Ajdabiya, Brega, Benghazi and other cities and said that "have been twelve hours of hard work and nothing has happened."

The so-called "federalists", thousands of celebrities and local leaders of this country, called last March in Benghazi creating a federal state and accused the Libyan authorities in Tripoli on the sideline for eight months was the rebel capital war against the regime of Gaddafi. Along with the Federalists, many voices have demanded the eastern Libyan greater representation of candidates from Benghazi in the National General.

The National Transitional Council has advised that "Sharia" (Islamic law) is the "main" source of law of Libya and that such decision is not subject to referendum. This was announced by the spokesman of the CNT Darhoub Salé, who argued that Libyan society is deeply linked to Islam, not just religious level but also at the political level, so no point in this reality is not reflected in the body popular sovereignty.