Jubilee Post News & Views
Special Desk
In about six-week time from now it will be decided whether Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of Libya’s former leader Muammar Gaddafi, will become the president or not.
“Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi submitted his candidacy for the presidential election to the High National Electoral Commission office in Sebha,” the commission has said.
Gaddafi is one of the most prominent figures expected to run for president along with renegade eastern commander Khalifa Haftar, Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah and parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh.
Pictures on social media showed Gaddafi, with a grey beard and wearing glasses and a traditional brown robe and turban, signing documents at the registration centre in the southern town of Sebha on Sunday.
Despite the public backing of most Libyan factions and foreign powers for elections on December 24, the vote is still in doubt as rival entities squabble over the rules and schedule. A major conference recently in Paris agreed to sanction those who disrupt or prevent the vote, but there is still no agreement on rules to govern who should be able to run.
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Human Rights Watch has questioned whether Libyan authorities can hold free and fair elections. The group criticised what it said were Libya’s restrictive laws that undermine freedom of speech and association.
Hanan Salah, a senior Libya researcher at Human Rights Watch (HRW), said, “Libya needs elections in order to move beyond this stage.” The statement came on the eve of an international conference on Libya in Paris that will focus on Libya’s presidential and parliamentary elections, planned as part of a United Nations-backed road map on December 24.
