The son of former Libyan revolutionary leader Muammar Gaddafi, Seif al-Islam Gaddafi, is running for president in Libya. The son of the brutal dictator announced on Sunday that he would be joining as a candidate in next month's presidential elections.
The 49-year-old political submitted his certificate of candidacy in the town of Sabha, just 400 miles from the Libyan capital of Tripoli. The High National Elections Commission also confirmed Gaddafi's candidacy.
Seif al-Islam Gaddafi is the first major candidate to submit his bid for president formally. Parliament member Agila Saleh, former Interior Minister Fathi Bashaga, and military commander Khalifa Hifter are all expected to submit their certificate of candidacy in the coming days.
Libya's presidential elections will take place on Dec. 24, its first democratic election since the United Nations helped bring back the country to democracy after the end of its civil war.
Video uploaded by election officials showed Seif al-Islam Gaddafi wearing a traditional Libyan robe and a turban when he submitted his election documents. In his first public appearance in years, Gaddafi said that "God will decide" the fate of Libya in the coming elections.
Seif al-Islam Gaddafi is currently wanted by the International Criminal Court for his crimes during the country's 2011 civil war. He has been charged with crimes against humanity for his involvement in the brutal civil war.
The ICC did not comment on his candidacy but stated that Seif al-Islam Gaddafi's pending warrant of arrest still remains legally valid.
The son of the late dictator was arrested in 2011 following the fall of Muammar Gaddafi's government. The government was toppled by a NATO-backed coalition, ending Gaddafi's 40-year reign as the nation's leader. Moammar Gaddafi was killed during the same year in a separate incident, which then led to the First Libyan Civil War.
Seif al-Islam Gaddafi was released in June 2017. Shortly after he was released, he declared to the public his intention of running for the county's president in a democratic election.
Seif al-Islam Gaddafi previously received a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics, albeit his attendance and a payment from a Gaddafi-linked organization provoked a scandal at the university.
Muammar Gaddafi's four-decade rule of Libya was both praised and criticized by domestic and international observers. On the one hand, Gaddafi was praised for his anti-imperialist stance and his support for Arab and African unity. He is also praised for greatly improving the Libyan people's quality of life during his reign. On the other hand, Gaddafi was criticized for his social and economic reforms, with many Libyans labeling him as an authoritarian dictator.
