Libya’s interim prime minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, became the latest high-profile figure seeking to join December’s presidential race, looking to channel his growing international profile into a bid for the country’s top job.
Dbeibah was chosen in February as Libya’s first premier of a unified government in about seven years as part of long-running United Nations-backed efforts to end a bloody conflict between rival administrations in the east and west.
He said Sunday that he had presented his papers to be a candidate, according to a statement on the Libya Al-Ahrar TV channel.
Current election law requires officeholders to step down three months ahead of the vote scheduled for Dec. 24, which could pose a problem for Dbeibah’s candidacy.
Dbeibah joins a contest already featuring eastern commander Khalifa Haftar, who once led fighting against an internationally recognized government in Tripoli, and a son of Moammar Gadhafi, the autocrat who ruled the OPEC nation for decades before a NATO-backed uprising ousted him and plunged Libya into chaos.
Fathi Bashagha, a former interior minister, and ex-premier Ali Zaidan are also among those who have registered to run.
Libya had been split between dueling eastern and western administrations since 2014, with the most recent fighting pitting Haftar, who was backed by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates as well as Russian mercenaries, against the Tripoli-based government, which received crucial military support from Turkey.
