TRIPOLI, Libya: July 1 (Xinhua) — An office building of Libyan Higher National Election Commission (HNEC), located in the country’s second largest city of Benghazi, was stormed by protestors on Sunday, an electoral official told Xinhua.
The incident took place less than a week before the North African country holds constituent assembly elections.Jamal Abu Green, a senior official of HNEC, told Xinhua that about 100 men stormed into the building and smashed documents and facilities around, demanding “fair” distribution of parliamentary seats in the upcoming elections.
The incident left several committee staff members injured, but has not caused any deaths. The security situation in Libya, about eight months after the civil war that ended the life of former leader Muammar Gaddafi, is still unstable as tribal clashes, anti-interim government and anti- foreigner attacks are reported almost every month.
Last month, HNEC announced that the forthcoming constituent assembly elections, originally set to be held in late June, are to be postponed to July 7, amid ongoing clashes between army forces and armed groups in the southeastern city of Kufra, which left at least 47 people killed and more than 100 others injured in the past three days.
Before the civil war erupted last year, Libya had a population of over 6 million. According to HNEC statistics, more than 2.8 million voters are likely to cast ballots in the assembly elections, roughly 80 percent of the total registered voters. (Xinhua)
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