The son of the “Guide” remains in the race: the court of appeal of Sebha, in southern Libya, on Thursday ordered the reestablishment of Seif al-Islam Kadhafi, son of the former Libyan dictator, as a candidate for election. the presidential election of December 24.
The information, reported by several Libyan media, was confirmed by AFP with the entourage of the candidate, who had appealed earlier in the day to this court against the decision of the Electoral Authority to reject his candidacy for non-compliance with the provisions of the law. “It is first of all a victory for justice, and then that of the will of the people,” welcomed his lawyer Khaled al-Zaydi after the hearing.
Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, 49, was sentenced to death in 2015 after a hasty trial, before being granted an amnesty. Disappeared from public life, he submitted his candidacy in mid-November, relying on the support of those nostalgic for the old regime, disappointed by an endless political transition against a backdrop of chaos.
The court decision gave rise on Thursday to scenes of jubilation in front of the court in Sebha, a semi-desert town located some 650 kilometers south of Tripoli, where dozens of the candidate’s supporters were gathered, according to media images.
It comes after a series of incidents that for several days prevented Gaddafi’s son from appealing the rejection of his candidacy, announced on November 24. Supporters of the strongman of the East, Khalifa Haftar, himself a candidate, blocked access to the court for a week, causing “great concern” within the interim government but also at the UN.
These armed men finally withdrew from the perimeter of the court on Thursday, allowing the three magistrates and the lawyer for Seif al-Islam to enter the building.
For Emadeddin Badi, expert at the Global Initiative based in Geneva, “the electoral process is killing three birds with one stone: discrediting the UN, Libyan justice and the elections”.
The culmination of a laborious process sponsored by the UN, the presidential election of December 24, and the legislative elections scheduled a month later, are supposed to turn the page on a decade of conflict since the fall in 2011 of the regime of Muammar Gaddafi, killed during a popular revolt.
Rising tensions
If Libya is engaged in the home stretch of the presidential election, crucial for the future of this North African country, the persistence of disagreements between rival camps and tensions on the ground cast doubt on its holding.
Secretary-General António Guterres stressed Wednesday that the elections should not be “part of the problem” while the President of the Security Council believed that the conditions were not met for a democratic election.
Tensions have been rising for several weeks. crescendo : at the end of September, the Tobruk-based parliament voted a motion of censure against the interim executive, responsible for leading the country towards elections, taking the risk of torpedoing the process.
For the international community, the holding of the presidential and legislative elections is essential to pacify the country which has the most abundant oil reserves in Africa.