Elections for a constituent assembly, originally due by June 19 as Libya’s first such vote in 40 years, will be postponed, electoral commission members said yesterday.

It may be put back until after Ramadan

One commission member, on condition of anonymity, said the postponement until July or later had been decided for logistical reasons, mainly to allow time for appeals from candidates who had been ruled out of the contest.

“Several dates have been proposed, but discussions are pointing to July 10,” the official said.

The chairman of the electoral commission, questioned by AFP, would say only that “an announcement will be made tomorrow (Sunday) at a news conference”.

Another commission member said the postponement had been decided in consultation with UN officials who had “proposed a date during the first week in July”.

“But if we are not ready by that date, the election will be postponed for August also, until after Ramadan,” the Muslim holy fasting month starting in late July this year, the official cautioned.

Rumours have abounded in the Libyan capital that the constituent assembly election will be put off, despite the authorities insisting it will go ahead, although no actual polling day has been announced.

More than 2.7 million Libyans, or 80 percent of eligible voters, have registered to participate in the first election after four decades of dictatorship under Muammar Gaddafi, toppled last year.

The ruling National Transitional Council, having declared the country’s “liberation” three days after the October 20 capture and killing of Gaddafi, then launched a 20-month countdown to elections.

A transitional government was to organise the election of a 200-member assembly, or “general national congress” within eight months. The NTC will step down once the congress holds its first session.