By Ahmed Elumami
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – The son of Libya’s late dictator Muammar Gaddafi registered on Sunday as presidential candidate in December’s planned election as disputes rage over the rules of a vote proposed as a way to end a decade of violence.
Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi, 49, appeared in social media photos in traditional brown robe and turban, and with a grey beard and glasses, signing documents at the election centre in the southern town of Sebha. An official confirmed he had registered.
Gaddafi is one of the most prominent figures expected to run for president – a list that also includes eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar, Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah and parliament speaker Aguila Saleh.
However, despite the public backing of most Libyan factions and foreign powers for elections on Dec. 24, the vote is still in doubt as rival entities squabble over the rules and schedule.
A major conference in Paris on Friday agreed to sanction any who disrupt or prevent the vote, but with less than six weeks to go, there is still no agreement on rules to govern who should be able to run.
While Gaddafi is likely to play on nostalgia for the era before the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that swept his father from power and ushered in a decade of chaos and violence, analysts say he may not prove to be a front runner.
The Gaddafi era is still remembered by many Libyans as one of harsh autocracy, while Saif al-Islam and other former regime figures have been out of power for so long they may find it difficult to mobilise as much support as major rivals.
Muammar al-Gaddafi was captured outside his hometown of Sirte by opposition fighters in Oct. 2011 and summarily shot.
AMBITIONS
His son Saif al-Islam remains something of a cipher to many Libyans, having spent the past decade out of public sight since his capture the same month by fighters from the mountain region of Zintan.
He gave an interview to the New York Times earlier this year, but has not yet made any public appearance speaking directly to Libyans.
Complicating his presidential ambitions, Gaddafi was tried in absentia in 2015 by a Tripoli court at which he appeared via videolink from Zintan, and which sentenced him to death for war crimes including killing protesters during the 2011 revolt.
He would likely face arrest or other dangers if he appeared publicly in the capital Tripoli. He is also wanted by the International Criminal Court.
Educated at the London School of Economics and a fluent English speaker, Saif al-Islam was once seen by many governments as the acceptable, Western-friendly face of Libya, and a possible heir apparent.
But when a rebellion broke out in 2011 against Muammar Gaddafi’s long rule, Saif al-Islam immediately chose family and clan loyalties over his many friendships in the West, telling Reuters television: “We fight here in Libya; we die here in Libya”.
(Reporting by Ahmed Elumami, writing by Angus McDowall, editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
