Libyans could shy away from the country's first free elections later this year if more is not done to educate them about the vote, wartime rebel prime minister Mahmoud Jibril said. Four months after he stepped down from his post, Jibril said it was premature to talk about his own political ambitions and that for now he was traveling around the North African country to raise awareness ahead of the June election for a national assembly, which will have the task of drawing up a constitution. “An awareness process is very much needed so when a Libyan person goes to the ballot, he can make a free conscious decision of what he wants,” he told Reuters in an interview. “But right now we are going have one of two possibilities – either people will shy away from going to election day simply because they don't know what is required of them or they will be ready to sell their vote to whoever has the money,” he said. “Both scenarios are very scary scenarios.” Libya last week published its final draft of the country's election law, which will reserve two fifths of the seats for political parties, groups that were banned under deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year autocratic rule. Dozens of new parties have sprung up offering a vibrant mix of democratic, Islamist, free market and nationalist agendas and providing an alternative to established political movements like the Muslim Brotherhood. But the electoral picture has been clouded by widespread insecurity in the North African country, with the interim government appointed in November struggling to impose its authority on a myriad of armed groups.
