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Libya is poised to hold presidential and parliamentary elections but there are still many . Ongoing political turmoil has caused the elections to be several times, with no exact date set.

All of this chaos was to be predicted if you look at what Libya inherited in the aftermath of its long-time leader , who was ousted in a revolution .

Though the United Nations the holding of elections to provide legitimacy to a new government (especially after months of negotiating a peace plan), the problems facing Libya are too vast. They include violence by non-state actors, foreign meddling and the absence of constitutional framework that has universal support.

These challenges have significant implications for Libya鈥檚 future. Moving forward the country faces ongoing turmoil, state failure and protracted conflict, similar to .

Violent armed militia

The biggest challenge is that the government does not have a monopoly over the legitimate use of force. In other words, there is no unified national military that has control over the entire territory. This is one of the reasons why elections had to be repeatedly postponed. It is simply .

Libya is still awash with violent non-state actors 鈥� hundreds of different militia groups that engage in violence to undermine the interim governments and carve out their own fiefdoms. The capital Tripoli is under the control of an array of . These militias and violent groups vie for political power while also being heavily involved in .

Some of these militias, which were involved in human rights abuses, were even (currently led by led by ). For example, Abu Salim Central Security Force leader, Abdel Ghani al-Kikli, who was responsible for unlawful killings and torture, was tasked with heading the 鈥淪tability Support Authority鈥�, which directly reported to the . The GNA was only dissolved .

There is also the issue of General 鈥檚 forces, the Libyan National Army, which may . Though pro-Haftar forces have been pushed back from Tripoli, much of the East, including the strategic city of Sirte, is . Haftar, who faces legal action for , is running for president in the upcoming elections, though he was .

In addition to Haftar鈥檚 forces there are various tribal militias, Salafist militias, jihadist groups, (like the Islamic State) and as many as 20,000 foreign forces .

In fact, foreign involvement remains a huge challenge. The United Arab Emirates, Russia, and Egypt have supported General Haftar鈥檚 forces, while Turkey and Qatar have supported the Government of National Accord, supplying a steady flow of arms and fighters to an .

Lack of a constitution

The other issue is that there is no constitution that . There isn鈥檛 even any agreement on a basic set of principles, or any meaningful debate on what the constitution should comprise.

For example, there is still division over how much power the president and the parliament should have. There are also still loopholes in the current , which provide leeway for the Supreme Commander of the military to .

Additionally, questions remain about the validity of the elections themselves. There are many candidates that have been barred from running, though two of the most controversial candidates 鈥� General Haftar and Muammar Qaddafi鈥檚 son 鈥� have .

A controversial law passed in September allowed Haftar to run as a presidential candidate and then . None of the local and national problems such as ongoing violence, have been fixed since the elections were postponed, so it is unclear how the postponed voting will resolve matters.

Muammar Qaddafi鈥檚 legacy

Gaddafi (1969-2011) seized power in a and proceeded to rule by using divide and conquer strategies against his own people, which have had a lasting impact even today.

His personalist style of rule focused not on building a unified national military, but on creating rival tribal militias that vied for his loyalty while contending against one another. The chain of command in Libya鈥檚 military was also . Never was there a national military capable of effectively fighting other countries.

Under Gaddafi a constitution was promulgated , but through a series of declarations he was able to exercise total control and . Elections ceased to be held during Gaddafi鈥檚 reign and .

Conclusion

Without much history of parliamentary politics and political debate, the road to peace in Libya, more than a decade since the country fell into chaos following the ouster and killing of Gaddafi, has focused on giving each warring faction a piece of the pie, rather than creating institutions that .

With controversial candidates on the ballot, there is little hope that the presidential and parliamentary elections will be able to unify the country. In fact, there is greater concern that elections could .

Moving forward Libya needs to establish a ceasefire and continue to work on the political settlement, before meaningful elections can be held.

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