France says Libya elections will help ‘turn the page’

France on Sunday hailed Libya’s historic elections after the fall of Moamer Kadhafi as a watershed that will help the country “turn the page” on decades of dictatorship.

“Eight months after the fall of the Kadhafi regime, France hails the broadly orderly conduct of the elections in Libya despite stray incidents,” foreign ministry spokesman Bertrand Valero said in a statement.

“We congratulate the Libyan people for the strong mobilisation. It shows the will to make the transition successful and turn the page on years of dictatorship to now build a state with a rule of law,” he said.

Libyans on Saturday voted for a General National Congress, a 200-member legislative assembly which will steer the country through a transition period.

It was the first free national election in decades.

Apart from acts of sabotage in restive eastern Libya and one death in Ajdabiya as unknown gunmen opened fire near a polling station, the vote was held in a festive atmosphere in the major cities.