If a stable and responsible government emerges from Libya's first elections, scheduled for today, since the fall of Gaddafi, it will be a minor miracle. More than 2,500 candidates are contesting the 120 seats reserved for individuals, while more than 100 parties will contend for the remaining 80 seats in a new General National Congress which will have the task of writing a constitution. But the campaign has been slow to ignite, with few normal signs of electioneering. All the paraphernalia of democracy was taboo under Gaddafi, with the result that most of the six million Libyans are hazy about what is involved.
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