The son of ex-dictator Muammar Gaddafi Seif al-Islam, wanted by the International Criminal Court for “crimes against humanity”, was the first heavyweight in Libyan politics to submit his candidacy for the presidential election scheduled for Sunday. end December.
To everyone’s surprise and when it was not known where he was lately, Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, 49, presented himself to Sebha (south), one of the three application centers, along with Tripoli. (west) and Benghazi (east), according to images relayed by local media. Wrapped in a brown abaya and a turban of the same color, tied in the Bedouin style as his father, killed in 2011 during a popular revolt, did, he signed the documents, assisted by his lawyer. He then spoke verses from the Koran and then concluded with the phrase “God bless you”, addressed to the staff of the High Electoral Commission (HNEC). He was also given his voting card.
Uncertainties
Captured in November 2011 by an armed group in Zenten in north-western Libya, he was sentenced to death in 2015 after a speedy trial. The same small group had nevertheless refused to deliver him to the authorities or to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has been looking for him since 2011 for “crimes against humanity”. The group released him in 2017 and his trace was lost. “Seif al-Islam Gadhafi’s situation at the ICC has not changed. According to the notice published in 2011, he is still wanted, ”Fadi Abdallah, an ICC spokesperson told Libya al-Ahrar.
For the international community, the holding of elections is essential to pacify the country, which has the most abundant oil reserves in Africa. The presidential election – the first in the country’s history – and the legislative elections remain nevertheless very uncertain against a backdrop of renewed tensions between the rival camps, installed in the west and in the east.
After the candidacy of Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, many questions remain around those of Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the strong man of eastern Libya, and of the prime minister, Abdelhamid Dbeibah, placed in the spotlight during the conference on Libya on Friday in Paris.
Marshal Haftar himself suspended from his military duties – an essential procedure – three months before the election date, but has not yet applied. Theoretically, Mr. Ddheibah cannot be a candidate because he is a member of the interim government, unless the ballot is postponed.
For Wolfram Lacher, expert on Libya from the German SWP institute, the candidacy of Seif Al-Islam Gaddafi “filed despite the arrest warrants of the ICC […] will only further complicate the electoral process ”. This is strongly contested because of an electoral law for the presidential election which does not clearly define the attributions of the future president and was not voted but directly ratified by its leader, Aguila Saleh, a close friend of Marshal Haftar.