Can Seif al-Islam bring Gaddafi's family back to power in Libya?

Seif al-Islam Gaddafi, a son of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, struggles to put an end to unrest in his country by lobbying for a presidential election that he can win. This comes at a time the international community works hard to bring about peace in Libya which is torn by war.

Since getting out of jail in the northwestern Libyan city of Zintan in 2017, Seif al-Islam has not missed a chance without calling for holding presidential election. The election, he always says, will be the only way for his North African state out of its current turmoil.

He denounced the clashes that erupted in Libyan capital Tripoli, which followed a truce that held for four months. The clashes so far left five people dead and more than 25 others injured, according to the Libyan Ministry of Health.

Mohamed al-Gilosei, an aide of Seif al-Islam and a member of his presidential team, said the late Libyan leader's son wants to give the chance for Libyans to select their own government.

"He also wants them to select a government that is capable of ending rampant violence and chaos in the country," he told the news site al-Arabia.net.

Election postponed

United Nations Special Envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame said recently that the Libyans had to choose one of two options, either a political process or a renewed war.

Gilosei said, meanwhile, that the postponement of the election by the UN special envoy means that the Libyans have only one option now, namely renewed war.

Salame told the news channel al-Hurra that the UN mission in Libya planned to hold the country's elections before the end of this year.

The elections, he said, would be preceded by a referendum on the new Libyan constitution.

Salame referred to agreement among Libya's political forces on the unlikelihood of holding the election before the end of this year.

He said all Libyan forces agree in that the mandate of the president had to be defined in the constitution before holding the election.

However, this is not the first time the elections are postponed. The elections should have been held before the end of last year. Nevertheless, Libyan rivals meeting in the Italian city of Palermo agreed to differ the election until March of last year.

Seif al-Islam ready

The political team working with Gaddafi's son works actively to finalize his electoral program. In December 2018, Seif al-Islam talked to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone to ask him to play a role in reconciling Libya's political rivals and unifying the country.

The Russian government revealed then that a delegation representing Gaddafi's son had visited Moscow. It also said that the members of the delegation had hand a message to Russian Foreign Ministry officials about efforts to bring about a political settlement to the conflict in the country.

Speaking to the Russian news channel, RT, al-Gilosei said Seif al-Islam explained his view in the message about settling the conflict in Libya.

He added that he held talks in Moscow with Putin's envoy to the Middle East and Africa, Mikhail Bogdanov.

In his talks with Bogdanov, al-Gilosei said, he discussed means of ending the crisis in Libya.

Holding the elections and a national conference will save our country," al-Gilosei said.

He said the elections would give the Libyans the chance to express their own aspirations.

Consensus candidate

Seif al-Islam's insistence that the elections be held as soon as possible shows that he is ready for these elections.

Libyan media figure Bassem al-Sul, who is the spokesman of the Gaddafi family, said Seif al-Islam would surely run in the elections.

Researcher in African affairs, Ariej Mohamed, said foreign initiatives, especially those offered by Italy and France, did little to solve the Libyan crisis, given the complex nature of this crisis.

"This is why I say the elections and a national conference will be the only ways for Libya out of its crises," Mohamed told al-Marjie.

She revealed that Russian backing of Gaddafi's son boils down to the presence of support to him by influential Libyan tribes.

"Seif al-Islam is the head of the Supreme Tribes Council," Mohamed said. "This gives him a lot of political weight."