Libya parliament rules out presidential vote on Friday as scheduled

Cairo: Libya, the oil-rich north African country, where international efforts have been going on to end its decade-old chaos, is again set to miss a chance for having a key sign of democratic order, with a Libyan parliamentary committee on Wednesday saying that it has become "impossible" to hold a long-waited presidential vote scheduled for Friday.

It was the first official statement that the vote would not happen on Friday, although it was widely expected despite mounting challenges and calls for a deferment.

Parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh and lawmaker al-Hadi al-Sagheir, head of the committee tasked to follow the electoral process, in a letter said the group found "it is impossible to hold the election as scheduled on Dec 24."

He did not specify whether another date had been set for the voting, or if it had been cancelled altogether.

As a sign of stalling of the democratic processes, the country's election commission disbanded electoral committees late on Tuesday, and it did not name a final list of candidates as was expected.

Hundreds of people had put themselves forward, including several high profile ones who were banned from the race including the son of late dictator Moammar Gadhafi who was ousted and killed in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011.

(With PTI input)