Libya Election Commission Disqualifies Gaddafi’s Son as Presidential Candidate

By Staff, Agencies

The Libya Election Commission ruled on Wednesday that Saiful Islam Gaddafi, the son of the country's former dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, and a strong candidate in December's planned presidential election, was ineligible to run.

Gaddafi was one of 25 candidates the commission disqualified, though it is an initial decision that is subject to an appeals process.

"The names mentioned are excluded from the preliminary list of candidates as they do not meet the prerequisites and have not submitted all the necessary documents," the committee said in a statement, as reported by AFP.

In the case of Gaddafi, the committee pointed to articles of the electoral law stipulating candidates "must not have been sentenced for a dishonorable crime" and must present a clean criminal record.

The military prosecutor in Tripoli had urged the commission to rule out Gaddafi after his conviction in absentia on war crimes charges in 2015 for his part in fighting the revolution that toppled his father, Muammar Gaddafi, in 2011. The younger Gaddafi has denied wrongdoing.

Libya's first ever direct presidential poll, due on 24 December, comes as the United Nations seeks to end a decade of violence in the oil-rich nation since a NATO-backed uprising toppled Gaddafi in 2011.

Nearly three million Libyans, out of a total population of some seven million people, have so far registered to vote, and 98 Libyans have registered as candidates.