On Monday, Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh stated that he seeks the “appropriate moment” to announce his position on running for the presidential elections.
Dbeibeh said his decision to run for the country’s presidency will be determined by the will of the youth during a panel with students at the new National Youth Council in the capital Tripoli. Dbeibeh also stated, “We want a fair parliament that serves all Libyans, and a fair election law that Libyans agree on.”
Furthermore, saying they are meant to suit certain people, he also rejected electoral laws passed last month by the Tobruk-based House of Representatives (HoR). Critics say the new election laws would allow warlord Khalifa Haftar, who controls the majority of Libya’s east, to seek the presidency.
With the support of certain foreign powers, the self-proclaimed “commander-in-chief of the Libyan National Army” has contributed exponentially to the decade-long turmoil in Libya after leading an unsuccessful military offensive to topple the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA).
Following a breakthrough in February, in which rival Libyan sides agreed to a new executive authority which also saw Mohamed al-Menfi chosen as the head of a three-member Presidential Council, Dbeibeh became Libya’s prime minister in the Government of National Unity (GNU).
Under an UN-sponsored agreement reached by Libyan political rivals during meetings last November in Tunisia, Libya’s presidential and parliamentary elections have been scheduled to take place on December 24.
On November 8, the country’s electoral commission opened registration for candidates in next month’s polls despite ongoing tensions between the HoR, the High Council of State, and the GNU over electoral powers and laws.
Applications for presidential candidacy will be accepted until November 22 and until December 7 for parliamentary polls.
