Politicians in Libya make another ill-fated push for elections

To call itUN déjà vu would be to understate. Last month Libyan politicians, drawn from the country’s two rival legislatures (one based in Tripoli, the capital, the other in the eastern city of Tobruk) met in Morocco to agree on draft electoral laws. They did not share the text with the public, but drew praise from Western diplomats. After years of delay, perhaps Libya was close to choosing a new government that would end its long political stalemate.Then came the caveats. The heads of were meant personally to sign the draft but backed out at the last minute. Lawmakers in one part of the divided country called for elections within eight months. The special envoy suggested this was optimistic, as “legal loopholes and technical shortcomings” meant the new electoral laws would not wash.