A New Maneuver for the Libyan Brotherhood… What is its Goal?

A new maneuver by the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood to refute accusations that it is one of the main factors obstructing the Libyan elections, through threats against officials at the Elections Commission and recent military moves in the capital Tripoli.

Although the Brotherhood’s opposition was apparent to everyone regarding the elections, especially as it realizes that its popularity in Libya is at an all-time low and that its chances are almost non-existent, through a statement issued by the Fatwa House of the deposed Muslim Brotherhood Grand Mufti, Sadiq Al-Ghariani, it seeks to distance itself from its opposition to the elections.

In its statement, the Dar al-Ifta Research Council attacked both the House of Representatives and the State following meetings between the two parties to reach agreements on elections.

The statement, titled “Research Council Calls for Parliamentary Elections and the Elimination of Legislative Bodies Lacking Legitimacy”, said: “The Council of Research and Sharia Studies in Libya’s Dar al-Ifta is following up on the contacts, meetings and proposals made by both the State Council and the House of Representatives. In fact, as we have been accustomed to, this only indicates that they are continuing in their position and that they are tolerating the suffering of the people in extending their transitional periods”.

Al-Ghariani’s statement, who is listed in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain as a terrorist, claimed that “We are against this; the Research Council emphasizes: First: “Going straight to parliamentary elections is the way to expedite the departure of these two lawless bodies, whose survival over these years has caused the unprecedented deterioration of the conditions in the country”.

“Neither the Council (the State and the House of Representatives) has the legitimacy to continue by extension of themselves, neither legally nor by law, according to the statement.

The statement added: “The work that the two councils are now required to do, without any further manipulation of time, is to hold parliamentary elections in accordance with the previous election law that was issued in 2014, without distracting people by forming committees for new laws, which are only intended to buy time”.

Thirdly: The entities tasked with preparing for the parliamentary elections are required to speed up the procedures that guarantee their integrity, the first of which is reforming the national number system, which has been proven to contain at least one million fake national numbers,
Over the past few days, the presidents of the High Council of State and the House of Representatives have held consultations in the Moroccan capital Rabat to develop a vision for the next phase and to form new bodies to lead the transitional phase until presidential elections are held.