Libyan interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah submitted his candidacy for the post of president, despite being technically barred from elections next month under the current rules, reported Reuters.
Prime Minister Dbeibah has the responsibility to lead the country until a winner is declared following national and presidential elections on Dec. 24. He submitted his application a day before the Nov. 22 deadline.
Dbeibah is barred from running in the upcoming election under the country’s current election laws. Furthermore, he also promised that he would not seek office in this year’s elections as a condition to taking on his caretaker role earlier this year. In order to be eligible, he also would have needed to have suspended himself from governmental duties at least three months before the polling date, which he did not.
The interim Libyan PM told reporters that he is running for the president’s post as he felt responsible for the continued reconstruction of the country.
It currently remains unclear whether the country’s electoral commission will accept his candidacy.
Dbeibah is the latest high-profile candidate to emerge in the race. Earlier this month, several controversial candidates have filed for the presidency. Seif Al-Islam, the son and one-time heir apparent of Libya’s late dictator Muammar Gaddafi, submitted his candidacy and powerful military commander Khalifa Haftar, who launched an offensive to capture the capital of Tripoli in 2019, is also running.
Fathi Bashagha, a former interior minister, and ex-premier Ali Zaidan are also among those who have registered to run.
Meanwhile, the United Nations envoy to Libya, Jan Kubis, emphasized the importance of holding elections on time and urged all parties involved in the Libyan election to accept the results. His comments came during a meeting with the Vice President of the Presidential Council, Abdullah Lafi.
Kubis said the current stage is very sensitive to enable Libya to conduct a successful ballot.
