Lybia Polls: Ghadaffi’s son, 97 others jostle for Presidency in December elections

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The son of slain Lybian dictator Moamer Ghadafi, Seif al-Islam Ghadafi, two women are among the 98 candidates expected to contest for the nation’s number one position in its elections billed for December, Libya’s electoral commission said Tuesday.

“The candidate registration platform has received the papers of 98 candidates who met the conditions,” the head of the electoral commission, Imad al-Sayeh, told a Tripoli press conference.

Other notables on the contestants list include Khalifa Haftar, leader of the self-styled Libyan National Army in control of the country’s east and parts of the south.

Also in the running are former interior minister Fathi Bashagha and Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah of the interim, UN-brokered Government of National Unity.

The two women who have stepped forward as candidates are Laila Ben Khalifa, 46, the president and founder of the National Movement party, and Hunayda al-Mahdi, a researcher in the social sciences.

The polls come as the UN seeks to end a decade of violence that has rocked the oil-rich nation since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed Gadhafi in 2011.

The final candidates’ list will be published within 12 days, once verifications and appeals are completed, said Sayeh, a day after the deadline for submitting applications.

The commission “will pass on the papers to the prosecutor general, the department of passports and nationality and to the General Intelligence” to ensure candidates comply with the electoral law.

Registration for Libya’s first-ever direct presidential poll, slated for December 24 took place in three commission offices; in Tripoli in the west, Benghazi in the east and Sebha in the south.

More than 2.8 million of Libya’s seven million people are registered to vote.

The head of the electoral commission said that so far, “more than 1.7 million voters have received their (voting) cards”.

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Francis Ogwo
The young and goal driven writer and cinematographer started his journalism as a print journalist in Kaduna in 2005 writing for Kaduna Chronicles Newspapers, Liberator Newspapers where he became the South Bureau Chief. In 2008, he moved into TV production with an employment into Siverbird Television and Rhythm Fm as a Correspondent. He got certified by Independent Television Producers Association of Nigeria(ITPAN) in 2009. After five years of hardwork and training, he was employed as Associate Producer, Moments With Mo and subsequently Producer, Playground on HipTV. Francis currently majors in documentaries and high profile scripts for news and movies. He is currently a Senior Contents Producer at News Central TV

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