By Abdullah Alkabir, Libyan political writer and commentator
The election rock
The Greek myth says that Sisyphus managed to deceive the god of death Thanatos, as he asked him to put handcuffs and locks on his hands and feet as an experiment, and then immediately handcuffed him, to prevent him from catching people's souls. The Olympian gods got angry with Sisyphus and ordered him to roll a huge boulder from the bottom of the mountain uphill to the top of the mountain, but the rock slipped before reaching the top and fell back to the bottom, and so he tries again, but to no avail. The myth of Sisyphus is used on every useless act, that is not expected to reach the aspired results.
This is what the de facto authorities in Libya have been doing for years. The elections are the rock of Sisyphus, with which the actors in the political scene will not reach the end, but rather will roll back to the starting point, in order for the de facto authorities to repeat the attempt or pretend to do so, without a real desire to reach its final stop, the completion of a long overdue change.
Almost everyone knows the obstacles that prevent the completion of the elections, and yet there is a kind of unanimity from the de-facto authorities not to remove them, despite all the local appeals and demands. The disagreement is over the presidential elections, as no dispute or obstacles hampering legislative elections, yet a broad spectrum locally, regionally, and internationally insisting on holding them simultaneously, with the inclusion of a legal article in the 13th Constitutional Amendment that nullifies the elections and considers them null and void, if the presidential elections are disrupted for any reason.
In the latest attempts of rolling the election rock, they were through the 6 + 6 committee, the constitutional amendment stipulated that its results be considered final, binding and not subject to review, but the author and director of this amendment was the first to retract what he decided to abide by, declaring that the laws of the 6 + 6 committee are unacceptable, demanding the review of the committee’s outcome, and achieving more consensus! Thus, the rock of the elections fell back again to the foothill.
Consensus by standards of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the forces supporting him is to open the door wide for the candidacy of Khalifa Haftar, remove any obstacles that prevent him from being given the opportunity to run and win the presidency of the country, and allow him to return to the position he occupies now in the event of not winning, and here we must take into account the possibility of canceling the elections by any pretext that can be made, and the disinformation choir promotes, spreads and works to convince people of it.
So, in all cases, the rock of the elections will not reach the top of the mountain, except in one case, which is to ensure Haftar’s candidacy and prepare all means for his victory. Otherwise, the elections will fall to the bottom, and the situation will remain as it was, with the claim that they will repeat the attempt as soon as the appropriate conditions are available, just as Sisyphus has been doing since the wrath of the Olympian gods descended upon him.
If the eternal torment in the Greek myth was borne by Sisyphus alone, the de facto authorities bear no burden whatsoever, in recycling the scene. In fact, on the contrary, they enjoy all the privileges and bliss of power and influence, and realize that crossing all stages and stations of elections means the end of these privileges. Torment is a reality for the people and the future of the country, and there is no hope for ending this absurd scene except for the people to go out peacefully, overthrow all the de facto authorities, and roll the election rock to the top of the mountain.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Libya Observer
