Libya delays list of presidential election candidates

SMA NEWS – TRIPOLI

Libya’s election commission on Saturday delayed publication of a final list of candidates for a presidential election scheduled in less than two weeks.
It is just the latest twist in a UN-led effort targeting December 24 presidential polls intended to help the oil-rich North African country move past a decade of violence.
The process has been undermined by bitter divisions over the legal basis for the elections, their dates, and who should be allowed to run, with a string of controversial figures stepping forward.
Publication of the final candidate list is supposed to mark the formal start of the election campaign, but the election commission did not give a new date for issuing the list.
Rules governing the ballot — which would be the first time a Libyan head of state is chosen by universal suffrage — say the commission should publish the list of candidates two weeks after final court rulings and appeals related to candidacies.
On Dec. 2 a Libyan court reinstated Seif Al-Islam Qaddafi, a son of slain dictator Muammar Qaddafi, as a candidate.