Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, has announced a political initiative to resolve the “serious crisis in Libya”, presenting it as “the last peaceful solution”.
In a written statement disseminated to the press on Tuesday, Gaddafi presents two proposals in his plan. The first of which provides that a neutral party sets urgent legal and executive arrangements for non-exclusive parliamentary and presidential elections in which everyone participates, without exclusion, and leaves the decision to the Libyan people to choose.
In his second proposal, Gaddafi calls on “controversial” candidates to withdraw from the presidential elections collectively without exception, saying that this would be “a last attempt to save the country and find a peaceful solution to its crisis.”
Gaddafi, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes, had registered to run on November 14 last year but was among 25 candidates whose bids have were rejected by the country’s High National Election Commission (HNEC)
He was the first heavyweight candidate to sign up for the election, after emerging from years in the shadows, but his candidacy caused uproar. The public reaction was split between those who welcomed his nomination due to nostalgic sentiment for the stability that existed during his father’s regime, and those who deemed him ineligible on the grounds of his alleged war crimes.