Libya Holds First Free Elections In 60 Years
By RFE RL
(RFE/RL) — Libya is holding its first free elections in sixty years.
Some 2.7 million voters will choose a 200-member assembly, which will form a new government and draft Libya’s constitution.
Candidates with Islamic agendas dominate the field of more than 3,700 hopefuls.
There have been calls to boycott the vote, especially in the eastern region around the city of Benghazi, which complains of neglect by the interim government in Tripoli in the west.
On the eve of the vote, hundreds protested in Benghazi over the fact the east had been allotted only 60 seats in the assembly compared to 102 for the west.
Also, gunmen shot down a helicopter carrying voting materials near Benghazi, killing one election commission worker.
