Fathi Bashagha, former interior minister in the Tripoli-based, internationally recognised Government of National Accord, has submitted his candidacy in the country’s forthcoming Presidential elections.
Bashagha joined a field of potential candidates that includes the son of overthrown leader Muammar Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the renegade eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar, and the eastern-based parliament speaker Aguila Saleh.
A UN-backed peace process calls for presidential and parliamentary elections on December 24, but there has been no widespread agreement on the legal basis for the election.
Rival factions and political entities have quarreled over who should be eligible to run, the eventual role of the directly elected president and the voting schedule.
Analysts say the arguments surrounding the elections threaten to derail the peace process, whether the vote goes ahead or not.
Several Libyan political analysts have warned against the Libyan High National Elections Commission (HNEC) bowing to pressures from Islamist groups in the country and taking steps to prevent Saif al-Islam Gadhafi and Libyan National Army (LNA) Commander Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar from running for president.