Ban on military personnel running for office in Libya leads to standoff
Libya’s High State of Council approved a ban on military personnel from running in the presidential elections in a move seemingly targeting eastern-based military strongman Khalifa Hifter.
TUNIS, Tunisia — The Tripoli-based High Council of State in Libya approved on Nov. 3 a decision to ban military personnel and dual nationals from running in the presidential elections in a move apparently directed at the military chief of eastern Libya, Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter.
The decision undermines the agreement reached Oct. 21 between the head of the High Council of State, Khalid al-Mishri, and the speaker of the rival Tobruk-based parliament, Aguila Saleh, in the Moroccan capital, Rabat, to unify the country’s executive power. The parliament, which is close to Hifter and his self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), could still reject the decision to ban military personnel and dual nationals from running in the elections.
Saleh and Mishri are expected to meet again in Turkey soon to resume the talks that began in Morocco regarding the presidential elections, Libyan division and the appointment of sovereign positions.
Hifter, who had previously declared his candidacy for the presidential elections that were scheduled for Dec. 24, 2021, before they were indefinitely postponed, holds US citizenship.
