The Member of the Board of Directors of the High National Elections Commission (HNEC), Abdul Hakim Al-Shaab, said that the results of the municipal elections scheduled for November 16 would be referred to the governments in Tripoli and Benghazi after the HNEC's approval.
Al-Shaab added that the HNEC had nothing to do with the political division in the country, and that it received support from both governments to hold elections.
A number of activists have accused the HNEC of leaning toward one of the two political parties in the country, which they say undermines its credibility.
These accusations came in the wake of a statement by the HNEC in which it announced that it had received financial support from the parallel government, which was understood at the time as an admission of the legitimacy of the government designated by the House of Representatives at the expense of the Government of National Unity in Tripoli.
A number of mayors of the western region municipalities also said that the municipalities and councils of elders in the western region would not recognize any legal section of the new municipal councils if they were approved by the parallel government headed by Osama Hammad.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the HNEC called on citizens in the municipalities, where elections had been scheduled to be held, to go to the polling stations on November 16 to elect their representatives.
