Liberal coalition says it is leading polls across Libya

The day after Libyans streamed to the polls, Libya’s National Forces Alliance is leading in the North African country’s first parliamentary elections, Al-Arabiya news reported on Sunday citing its sources.

Al-Arabiya added that this information is preliminary and the official results of the vote, in which Libyans were electing a 200-member transitional national assembly, will be announced "on Monday or Tuesday," according to the Electoral Commission.

Bearing that in mind, the National Forces Alliance unites Libya’s Liberal parties, movements and independent politicians and is led by former head of the National Transitional Council Mahmoud Jibril.

Moreover, the Justice and Construction party is a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood international, and Al-Watan is the party of Islamist insurgent Abdel Hakim Belhadj.

According to Nuri al-Abbar, the head of Libya's High National Electoral Commission, early results suggest a turnout of about 60 percent as 1.2 million out of more than 2.7 million registered voters participated in the elections.

An observer mission, consisting of representatives of Libyan people and foreign ambassadors in the country, are monitoring and recording the counting process, Reuters news reported.

Some observers in Tripoli and Benghazi, interviewed by AFP, reported an "overwhelming" victory to the Liberals in several constituencies and polling stations with rates sometimes exceeding 90%, as in the popular district of Abu Salim in the Libyan capital, Tripoli.

In the meantime,U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised the Libyan people for holding the country's first national election in decades.

"After more than four decades of authoritarian rule, men and women from every corner of Libya are determining their own future,” said Clinton.

She added that the United States stood ready to help Libya become a free and peaceful democracy, noting that there is “hard work ahead” for Libyans to unify the country.

For his part, U.S. Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican, gave the election a clean bill of health during a visit to Tripoli. "Turnout is very high, polls crowded and people are obviously enthusiastic. Overall it is a successful operation," he told reporters.

Finally, based on the above, Liberals are expected to win the elections in Libya even though the election's results in their neighboring Tunisia and Egypt brought Islamists to power.

More as it becomes available.

Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/07/08/225174.html