Libya’s parliamentary elections are expected to face delays, according to Mustafa el-Huni, deputy chairman of the National Transitional Council (NTC).

The elections were originally scheduled to take place on 21 June to elect 200 members to the interim National Congress.

The independent Election Authority has extended the deadline for candidate registration by one week. Candidates looking to stand for election were required to register from 1 May until 14 May. This has now been extended until 21 May, which is likely to have an impact on the election date.

“It is not a political decision, it was more because of a technical and logistic issue, so the elections are likely to be delayed by a week or a month,” says El-Huni.

Of Libya’s 6 million population, around 3.4 million are eligible to vote. On 10 May, only half had so far been registered, according to El-Huni, speaking exclusively to MEED. More than 500 candidates have also registered to stand in the elections.

The National Congress will have a year to draft a constitution setting out the shape of the future Libyan government. A referendum on the constitution is planned for the middle of 2013.

Candidates are currently being vetted by the National Transparency Committee to ensure that members of the old Gaddafi regime and those charged with corruption cannot stand for election.

NTC members will not be permitted to stand for election and their role as individuals will be reduced to an advisory capacity once the elections take place. “We said this from the very beginning to remove any accusations that the NTC is taking advantage of the situation,” says El-Huni.