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Journalism of Courage
Jubilant Libyan voters marked a major step towards democracy after decades of erratic one-man rule,casting their ballots on Saturday in the first parliamentary election after last years overthrow and killing of longtime leader Moammar Gaddafi. But the joy was tempered by boycott calls,the burning of ballots and other violence in the countrys restive east.
In the capital Tripoli,residents turned out in droves to cast votes for the 200-seat legislature. Lines began to form outside polling centres more than an hour before they were scheduled to open. Policemen and soldiers were guarding the centers,searching voters as well as election workers.
I have a strange but beautiful feeling today, said dentist Adam Thabet,waiting outside a polling centre. We are free at last after years of fear. We knew this day was coming,but we were afraid it could take long to come.
Speaking to reporters after casting his ballot in a station in the capital,Prime Minister Abdurrahim el-Keib said,We are celebrating today and we want the whole world to celebrate with us.
Libyas election is the latest fruit of Arab Spring revolts against authoritarian leaders. It is likely to be dominated by Islamist parties of all shades,a similar outcome to elections held in the countrys neighbors Egypt and Tunisia,which had had their own,though much less bloody,uprisings.
There are four major contenders in the race,ranging from a Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated party and another Islamist coalition on one end of the spectrum to a secular-minded party led by a Western-educated former rebel prime minister on the other.
This is history in the making, declared 26-year-old medic Farid Fadil as he waited to vote outside a polling centre in Tripoli. We were ruled by a man who saw himself as the state.
Libyas intense regional,tribal,and ideological divisions however have cast a shadow over the vote. In the oil-rich east,there is a thriving pro-autonomy movement fueled by widespread resentment at what is perceived as domination by Tripoli. Some easterners back a boycott of the election and on Saturday protesters torched ballot boxes in 14 out of 19 polling centers in the eastern town of Ajdabiya,according to former rebel commander in the area Ibrahim Fayed.
Nouri al-Abar,the head of the election commission,told a news conference that 94 percent of polling centers nationwide were open but acknowledged that security conditions prevented ballots from reaching some polling centres in some cases,and that ballots were destroyed in other cases.
In Tripoli,however,voters celebrated. Some flashed the V for victory sign as they entered polling centres,others shouted Allahu Akbar,or God is Greater,from their car windows.
The turnout is extraordinary, said Mohammed Shady,an election monitor. Everyone is being very cooperative. They want the day to be a success and it will be.
