Voting under way across the country

Voting kicked off at 0800 (0600 GMT) this morning, with some 1.5 million registered voters able to cast their ballots in the parliamentary elections. Libyans will elect 200 parliamentarians to represent them in the country's General National Congress, or parliament, with 80 seats reserved for political parties and the rest up for grabs among independent candidates. 

Some pin high hopes that these elections can spark dialogue among the various factious parties in Libya's embattled political scene, although analysts have highlighted the challenges facing potential new politicians if they are to achieve unity.

News Editor Simona Sikimic has written an overview of the trials and tribulations facing Libya, speaking to a number of analysts, including Jason Pack of Cambridge University who had this to say on the potential for politicians to bridge their divides:

“Libyan politics at the moment are conceived as a zero sum game between two or three larger factions," said Pack, who is researcher of Libyan history at Cambridge University and President of Libya-Analysis.com. "Until those factions are ready to negotiate behind the scenes and come to a grand bargain, it is not possible for there to be any unifying figures."

“However, if a grand bargain is somehow struck behind the scenes, the new House of Representatives may finally find itself empowered and acting at long last to reach into local communities and bring unity,” explains Pack, “If that miraculously happens, the elections will be a great success, and it won’t have mattered that turnout was low. If the body is empowered to act in a legitimate fashion, that will be amazing.”