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| Africa North |
| Libyans electing panel to draft new charter |
| 2014-02-21 |
| Libyans were electing a panel on Thursday to draft a new constitution they hope would help defuse a potentially deadly conflict between powerful militias and parliament members backed by armed factions. The panel is due to draft LibyaÂ’s first constitution since the 2011 ouster of dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Nearly 700 candidates are competing for a seat on the panel. The vote comes after demands this week by powerful militias that interim parliament members resign or face detention. The United Nations in Libya counselled that legislators should call for new elections as soon as possible. The standoff has brought the restive North African countryÂ’s long-running political crisis to a head. Parliament, elected in 2012, is split between Islamist and non-Islamist blocs. Its mandate was to have expired this month, but the Islamists led a motion to extend it by another year. The crisis coincided with the third anniversary of the Feb. 17, 2011 uprising that toppled GadhafiÂ’s 42-year-old dictatorship. |
| Posted by:Steve White |