Libya's 200-member national assembly will elect a new Prime Minister on Thursday, with eight candidates approved to stand in the poll.

The shortlisted runners, who were announced last week, are currently presenting their cases both to the public and to the politicians who will vote for them.

The list includes Mahmoud Jibril, a senior official in the final years of the Gaddafi regime who then played a prominent political role in the 2011 uprising. Jibril heads a loose coalition of political parties under the umbrella of the National Forces Alliance (NFA), which won the single-largest number of seats in the national assembly elections in July.

Also running are several officials who already hold positions in Libya's transitional government. They include the current Deputy Prime Minister, Mustafa Abu Shagour, the Minister of Electricity, Awad Barasi, and the Deputy Minister for Higher Education, Fathi Akkari.

The other candidates are:

• Mohamed Berween, a prominent Misratan academic who lived in exile in the US for over three decades
• Mohamed al-Mufti, a writer and historian from north-east Libya
• Abdulhamid al-Nami, who heads the Libyan Centre party
• Mabrouk al-Zway, a writer

Candidates were required to gain the support of at least 15 members of the National Assembly in order to stand for office.

Upon being appointed, the new Prime Minister will have a month in which to name his cabinet.