Libyans will head to the polls on Saturday to cast their ballots for municipal elections, as a test of democracy in a nation still grappling with division and instability.
Key eastern cities – including Benghazi, Tobruk and Sirte – have rejected the vote, highlighting the deep rifts between rival administrations.
The U.N. mission in Libya, UNSMIL, called the elections "essential to uphold democratic governance" while warning that recent attacks on electoral offices and ongoing insecurity could undermine the process.
"Libyans need to vote and to have the freedom to choose without fear and without being pressured by anyone," said Esraa Abdelmonem, a 36-year-old mother of three.
"These elections would allow people to have their say in their day-to-day affairs," she said, adding that it was "interesting to see" how the areas affected by the clashes in May would vote.
Since the ouster of longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011, Libya has been split between a U.N.-recognized government in Tripoli, led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, and its eastern rival, backed by putschist Gen. Khalifa Haftar.
Khaled al-Montasser, a Tripoli-based international relations professor, called the vote "decisive," framing it as a test for whether Libya's factions are ready to accept representatives chosen at the ballot box.
"The elections make it possible to judge whether the eastern and western authorities are truly ready to accept the idea that local representatives are appointed by the vote rather than imposed by intimidation or arms," he said.
Nearly 380,000 Libyans, mostly from western municipalities, are eligible to vote.
Elections had originally been planned in 63 municipalities nationwide – 41 in the west, 13 in the east, and nine in the south – but the High National Elections Commission (HNEC) suspended 11 constituencies in the east and south due to irregularities, administrative issues and pressure from local authorities.
In some areas near Tripoli, voting was postponed due to problems distributing voter cards.
And on Tuesday, the electoral body said a group of armed men attacked its headquarters in Zliten, some 160 kilometers east of Tripoli.
It made no mention of any casualties, although UNSMIL said there were some injuries.
UNSMIL said the attack sought to "intimidate voters, candidates and electoral staff, and to prevent them from exercising their political rights."
On Friday, the HNEC said there were arson attacks on two polling stations in Zawiya and Sahel al-Gharbi west of Tripoli.
The electoral body said it remained determined to "fulfil its duty to guarantee free and fair elections".
After Gadhafi's overthrow, Libya held its first contested vote in 2012 to elect the 200 members of the General National Congress.
That was followed by the first municipal elections in 2013, and legislative elections in 2014 that saw a low turnout amid renewed violence.
In August that year, an alliance of militias seized Tripoli and installed a government with the backing of powerful former opposition groups from the country's third city Misrata, forcing the newly elected parliament to relocate to the east.
The U.N. then brokered an agreement in December 2015 that saw the creation of the Government of National Accord in Tripoli, but divisions in the country have continued.
A few municipal elections were held between 2019 and 2021, but only in a handful of cities.
