The son of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, assassinated in 2011 during a popular uprising, appeared publicly for the first time in a decade on Sunday (14) to register as a presidential candidate, in an election planned to end years of chaos since his father was shot down.
Saif al-Islam Muamar Gaddafi, 49, appeared in a video of the electoral commission wearing the traditional brown tunic, turban, gray beard and glasses, signing documents at the electoral center in the city of Sebha.
He is one of the most prominent and controversial figures among the contestants in the election, set for December. The list also includes Eastern Military Commander Khalifa Haftar, Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah and Speaker of Parliament Aguila Saleh.
This Friday (12), a conference in Paris agreed to punish anyone who interrupts or impedes the vote, which is expected to put an end to fighting between rival groups in recent years. But with less than six weeks to go before the election date, there is still no agreement on the rules to decide who can run.
Despite his name being one of the best known in Libya and having played an important role in policy-making before the uprising that ousted his family’s regime, Saif al-Islam was barely seen for a decade.
His only public appearance since being captured during the conflict in 2011 was via videolink before a Tripoli court that sentenced him to death for war crimes.
Despite this decision, he never left the mountainous region of Zintan, which is beyond the control of the Tripoli authorities, where his captors later allowed him to go free.
The dictator’s son is also wanted by the International Criminal Court.
While Saif al-Islam likely plays with nostalgia for the era before the 2011 uprising that ousted his father from power and ushered in a decade of chaos and violence, analysts say he may not be a favorite.
The era of Muamar Gaddafi is still remembered by many Libyans as a severe autocracy, and Saif al-Islam and other figures from the old regime have been out of power for so long that they may struggle to mobilize as much support as their rivals.
Muamar Kafadi was captured by opposition fighters in October 2011 and summarily shot. Saif al-Islam was arrested days later by Zintan fighters as he tried to flee Libya to Niger.
The now presidential candidate is a mystery to Libyans. Zintan’s fighters have kept him out of public view for years, and his views on the country’s crisis are not known.
He gave an interview to the New York Times earlier this year, but has yet to make any public appearances speaking directly to Libyans.
A graduate of the London School of Economics and a fluent English speaker, Saif al-Islam has already been seen by many governments as an ally of the West in Libya.
But when rebellion broke out in 2011 against his father’s long hold, he chose loyalty to family and clan.
.
