India to help strengthen Libya’s democracy

A visit to India by a four-member delegation from the High National Election Commission (HNEC) has resulted in a Memorandum of Understanding between it and India’s Election Commission on Indian support, expertise and training of election officials. The visit from 26 November to 30 November, led by HNEC Vice-Chairman Nagieb Abd Al-Salam Mohammed Alrabti, is part of growing contacts on election systems between the two countries. In October, two HNEC officials attended a management course at the Indian Election Commission’s training institute. India is the world’s largest democracy, with over 650 million voters regularly heading to the polls in national, state and local elections. During the visit, the delegation also met with the vice minister at India’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sanjay Singh. Various avenues of bilateral cooperation were discussed including Indian assistance in capacity building. In an earlier congratulatory message to Prime Minister Ali Zeidan, the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that India hoped to further strengthen and diversify relations with the new Libya and would extend all possible support to the country While in India the HNEC delegation was given a presentation on electronic voting machines (EVMs), now standard in the country.