Libya: son of Muammar al-Gaddafi is allowed to run for the presidential election

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Saif al-Islam Gaddafi: The son of the long-term Libyan ruler supported the brutal crackdown on protests against his later killed father in 2011

Photo: SABRI ELMHEDWI / EPA

A new president will be elected in Libya on December 24th.

The son of the ousted long-term ruler Muammar al-Gaddafi is now allowed to enter the race.

An appeals court upheld Saif al-Islam Gaddafi's objection to his exclusion from the vote, according to the Libyan news agency Lana.

With that, Gaddafi is returning to the race for office.

The election commission had actually rejected Gaddafi's candidacy a week ago.

The agency argued that he did not meet the conditions as he had already been convicted once.

But he was allowed to contest the decision.

Media released videos allegedly showing how Gaddafi's supporters celebrated the verdict in front of the courthouse.

The son of the long-term Libyan ruler had supported the brutal crackdown on protests against his later killed father in 2011. Seif al-Islam Gaddafi is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for alleged crimes against humanity. He was sentenced to death in absentia by a Tripoli court in 2015 for crimes committed during the revolt that led to his father's overthrow. He was later pardoned by a rival government in eastern Libya.

In July Gaddafi went public again after years of hiding and announced plans for a political comeback in an interview with the New York Times.

He wanted to restore "the lost unity" of Libya after a decade of chaos, he said.

On November 14, he submitted his candidacy, ten days later he was expelled from the electoral commission.

Dozens of candidates have submitted their applications

Due to ongoing disputes between the political opponents, it is still unclear whether the elections will actually take place as planned.

They are part of a UN roadmap to end the longstanding civil war.

Observers fear, however, that the victory of a controversial candidate could trigger violence.

There had already been protests against Gaddafi's candidacy.

Almost a hundred candidates have submitted their applications for the presidential election in Libya in a few weeks' time.

A new parliament is to be elected in January.

The planned elections are part of a process of democratization in the country that is under UN supervision, which also resulted in a ceasefire that was concluded in October 2020.

In response to the back and forth, Libya analyst Emadeddin Badi said on Twitter: "The electoral process is slowly landing three hits - it destroys the credibility of the United Nations, the Libyan judiciary and the elections as a way out of the crisis." the electoral commission announced that armed men had stolen more than 2,300 ballot papers from five polling stations in western Libya, including Tripoli.

Since the fall of Muammar al-Gaddafi in 2011, Libya has been shaped by violent conflicts and power struggles.

Foreign troops and mercenary groups, for example from Russia and Turkey, are also involved in local fighting.

The ceasefire that has been in force since October 2020 is considered fragile.

asc / AFP / dpa