Tripoli – Libya’s interim prime minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah on Sunday registered his candidacy for next month’s presidential election, official media.
Dbeibah signed documents at the HNEC electoral commission in the capital Tripoli, according to footage broadcast live by state television, the day before the deadline for registrations.
A wealthy businessman from the port city of Misrata, the 62-year-old political newcomer was designated as interim premier in February in a UN-led process, to steer the country to legislative and presidential elections.
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Doubt had long swirled about whether he would present his candidacy but on Thursday he submitted an assets declaration – one of the pre-requisites for prospective presidential candidates.
Libya’s first ever direct presidential poll, due on December 24, comes as the United Nations seeks to end a decade of violence in the oil-rich nation since a NATO-backed uprising that toppled dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.
Libya’s parliament speaker Aguila Saleh, eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar and Seif al-Islam Kadhafi, the late dictator’s son, have also signed up to run for the presidency.
Nearly three million Libyans – out of a total population of some seven million people – have so far registered to vote.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Getty Images
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