Ten years since dictator Muammar Gaddafi was assassinated in a brutal lynching, Libya are shocked by the possibility that his son, Sif al-Islam, will return to Libya and run in the next election.
Libyan officials question the true power of supporters of the previous regime and their ability to rally behind a single candidate.
"They do not have a united political bloc to deal with the others," said one source in the Arab press.
On the other hand, others believe that an association around the dead dictator's son may shuffle the cards in the election.
Earlier this month, the Libyan House of Representatives approved the parliamentary and presidential election law, which is expected to take place on December 24, 2021.
Today, Libya is run by a caretaker interim government that has been recognized by international institutions and includes representatives from the East and the West.
In 2014, a second civil war broke out between the Islamists in Tripoli and the conservative forces from Benghazi led by Khalifa Hefter, a former general and who was Gaddafi's sworn rival and exile.
Libyan Civil War, Photo: Reuters, AFP, AP
Civil wars have torn the country apart, while Russia and Turkey are pouring munitions and mercenaries into it. From a low participation rate and one of the parties will challenge the legitimacy of the new government.
"Feel resentment"
"There are those who worked with the previous regime and paid a heavy price after 2011, and there are supporters of the revolution who are displeased with its results," said Libyan MP Ziad Nerim in an interview with al-Sharq al-Awsat.
According to him, there are those who recall with nostalgia the stability of Gaddafi's rule, just as there are others who miss the royal rule of Idris.
"Of course there are also members who have ruled and want to return and play a new political role, such as Sif al - Islam's group - and that is their right," said Ziad.
Gaddafi has ruled Libya for no less than 42 years.
A decade before the military coup against the king, oil reserves were discovered in the country, thanks to which Gaddafi was able to implement a socialist policy backed by a cult of insane personality.
Following the fall of Saddam Hussein in Iraq in 2003, Gaddafi tried to move closer to the West in recent years, abandoning his plans to develop nuclear weapons.
It was too little and too late.
In the wake of the Arab Spring events, the uprising in the eastern region escalated into a civil war, during which an international coalition led by the United States intervened. And was shot to death in front of the cameras.