Libya’s interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah’s candidacy for the December presidential elections was rejected by the Tripoli Appeals Court.
According to reports, the court has accepted the petition against Dbeibah signed by several people, including former interior minister Fathi Bashagha.
Basagha is also running in the elections.
As per Article 12 of the elections law, Dbeibah has 72 hours to appeal the court’s decision, which states that candidates should resign three months prior to elections.
The candidacy of Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, the son of Libya’s ousted dictator Moammar Gadhafi, was also rejected due to previous convictions.
A total of 25 candidates were rejected, both legally and based on information from officials, including the public prosecutor, according to the document.
As for Seif al-Islam, the Libyan High National Election Commission (HNEC) cited provisions in electoral law stipulating that no candidate could have been sentenced for dishonorable crimes.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is seeking Seif al-Islam for alleged war crimes committed during the Libyan uprising.
Also, he was sentenced to death by a court in Tripoli for crimes committed during his father’s ouster, but later pardoned by a rival government in eastern Libya.
According to the HNEC, 98 candidates, including two women, had registered for the December elections.
One of the most prominent candidates is the putschist Gen. Khalifa Haftar, the leader of the forces in control of the east and parts of the south of the country. It is alleged that he committed war crimes against civilians.
His campaign was backed by Egypt, France, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Russia, but failed when militias backing the Tripoli government, along with support from Turkey, gained the upper hand.
