By George Grant.

Benghazi, 21 May:

The results from the first democratic elections to take place in Benghazi for more than four decades were announced this evening by the head of Benghazi’s electoral commission, Suleiman Zubi. He said that 138,312 people had voted .

Forty-one candidates, from the more than 400 who stood, were elected from 11 electoral districts to serve on Benghazi Local Council.The candidate who received the most votes in each of the districts is due to go on to represent the city at the National Transitional Council (NTC) in Tripoli.

Commenting on his election as one of the 11 council members to go to Tripoli, Khaled Al-Jazwee told the Libya Herald that he felt a "huge responsibility" to live up to the trust bestowed upon him by the people of Benghazi. "Obviously I am very happy to have been elected", he said, "but this is a huge responsibility, and now I must show the people that I am up to the task".

Another new member of the local council, Abdullah Buaod, echoed this sentiment, adding, "I am very pleased with how these elections have gone, because they have shown to the world that Benghazi is a civilised city, capable of holding free and fair elections".

Only one woman out of the 22 female candidates was elected, but she was resoundingly backed. Not only did Najat Rashid Mansur Al-Kikhia top the ballot in District 4, Al-Birka, with more than twice the number of votes of her nearest rival — 7,784 in all — she gained more votes than any other candidate in the entire election. She thus also becomes a Benghazi representative on the NTC.

Speaking to the Libya Herald, Suleiman Zubi, the head of the Benghazi Electoral Commission, said that voter turnout had been between 64-69 per cent. "The turnout for these elections was excellent", he said, "not only that, but voting passed off peacefully and without a single reported incident".

Asked about the possibility of voter fraud, Zubi insisted that there was none. "The way we organised these elections meant there was no opportunity for fraud. For one thing, we had around 1,000 election observers from both Libya and international organisations such as the United Nations, the European Union and the National Democratic Institute".

In the absence of a permanent Libyan constitution, however, it is still not fully clear what, or how extensive, its powers will be. In particular, questions still need to be answered as to which areas will fall under the local council's direct control, which will be reserved for the national government in Tripoli, and which a mixture of the two.

When asked what his main priority as a local council member elected to represent Benghazi at the NTC would be, Al-Jazwee highlighted this issue by saying that the foremost priority must be "to construct the local council in a proper way". Bouaod, likewise, said that his priority would be to "create a very strong local council, that can wield real influence both in Benghazi, but also in the country as a whole".

As the only authority in Benghazi with a democratic mandate, the local council will be in a strong position when it comes to finalising these issues, and the precedent that is set now may go on to influence what is eventually decided in the permanent constitution.

Benghazi’s electoral commission supervising the elections announced that appeals can be lodged, starting Tuesday, 22 May, and will last for three days.

Candidates Elected (the first named in each district is to serve on the NTC):

District 1: Central Benghazi and Sidi Hussein

* Khalid Abdul Hafeez Alqadi (5340 Votes)

Abdullah Awad Mohammed Deguem

Mohamed Abdel-Aziz Ahmed Zwarah

District 2: Central Benghazi and Sidi Hussein

* Issam Fathallah Ben Ghashir (4679 Votes)

Nabil Zarouk Abdualla Abousekaya

Mostafa Omar Salem Omar Sheikhy

Ahmed Jibril Mohammed Baba

District 3: Al-Sabri and Sidi Abaid

* Mohammed Ibrahim Mohammed Al-Taeib (4657 Votes)

Abdel-Hafiz Hamad Almqsba

Shahat Ibrahim Hassan Awami

District 4: Al-Birka

* Najat Rashid Mansur Al-Kikhia (7784 Votes)

Mohammed Moustafa Mohammed Al-Mqsbai

Mohammed Abdel-Wahab Mohammed Al’Issawi

Osama Mohammed Ahmed Sharif

Osman Dakhil Magrebi

 

District 5: New Benghazi and Al-Hadaiq

* Abdel-Moneim Saleh Mohammed Al-Tajouri (6785 Votes)

Mahmoud Faraj Abu Raziza

Ahmed Abdussalam Ben Nassir

Siddiq Salama Abderrahim Al-Zlitni

 

District 6: Al-Selmani Al-Sharqi and Al-Salawi

* Al-Garah Saad Khafifi (4085 Votes)

Faraj Abdullah Daabas

Hassan Ibrahim Algali

Mahmoud Farag Ibrahim Al-Fitouri

 

District 7:  Al-Uruba and Al-Mukhtar

* Khalid Ali Saleh Ajeli (4158 Votes)

Juma Abdul Salam Ghidan Sahli

Saad Omar Al-Saaiti

Abdul-Hamid Mohammed Al-Haddad

 

District 8: Al-Qish and Al-Fuwaihat

* Khalid Ibrahim Ali Al-Jazwee   (4317 Votes)

Tariq Ahmed Mohammed Buzribe

Abdullah Salem Abdullah Buaod

Abdullah Mohammed Mohammed Al-Maghrebi

 

District 9: Buatni, Al-Huwari and Gwarsha

* Awad Saleh Awad Al-Sobeihi (1753 Votes)

Ahmed Abdullah Rizkallah Bin Moussa

Faraj Mohammed Massoud Alabbar

Abdul Kader Yousef Al-Amrouni

Abdul Salam Mohammed Mamash

 

District 10:   Gar Younis and Al-Magrun

*Omar Mouftah Rajab Al-Silak   (2034 Votes)

Mohammed Mohammed Hussein Al-Soualem

District 11: Benina, Kuwafiyah  and  Sidi Khalifa

* Abdussalam Mouftah Busbaa    (1969 Votes)

Khalil Suleiman Khalil Al-Barghathi

Ashraf Abdullah Madhi