The New Libyan state
Libyan militias from towns throughout
the country's west parade through Tripoli,
Libya in February 2012
(no votes) |
(0 votes) |
Д.и.н., Doctor of History, Professor, Department of Oriental Studies, MGIMO University
The assassination of Gaddafi (October 20) took place eight months ago, but the political situation in Libya remains extremely tense and is characterized by an ongoing struggle for power and influence, the escalation of armed groups, tribal and ethnic clashes. There is a lack of consensus on the future government of Libya, a weak legal framework and a cooling of relations with the European Union.
The assassination of Gaddafi (October 20) took place eight months ago, but the political situation in Libya remains extremely tense and is characterized by an ongoing struggle for power and influence, the escalation of armed groups, tribal and ethnic clashes. There is a lack of consensus on the future government of Libya, a weak legal framework and a cooling of relations with the European Union.
After Gaddafi
According to the plan, the Transitional National Council (TNC) had to resign in June 2012, however the Constituent Assembly elections have been postponed. The Libyan authorities attribute this to technical difficulties that have arisen related to the extraordinary political activity of citizens: there about 400 registered political parties and 3,000 candidates for the election. All this creates a delay in the registration of citizens, compiling of lists and printing of ballot papers. However, this is just the edge of the issue. Events in Libya reinforce doubts about the ability of the central government to control the situation in the country and build a new modern state.
Security remains a major problem in the political life of modern Libya. In a country that is awash with weapons they have not yet created a centralized security service which is needed in order to separate fighting factions, which are fighting at this time with each other for influence in the country. Moreover, different militias, that have emerged on the basis of groups of former insurgents, are regularly accused by international human rights organizations of various crimes, in particular, in the torture of thousands of supporters of al-Gaddafi in prison, as quoted in his speech to the UN Security Council on May 10 by Special Envoy to Libya Ian Martin.
Previously UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay confirmed that the military forces, which fought on the side of the TNC, currently hold thousands of people in custody without trial and in dreadful conditions. According to her, there are now about sixty detention centers in different parts of Libya, where more than 8.5 thousand prisoners are being held.
The international organization “Doctors without Borders” therefore, today announced on the suspension of its mission in Libya.
Events in Libya reinforce doubts about the ability of the central government to control the situation in the country and build a new modern state.
All attempts to separate subordinate units of the TNC into one command and disarm them ran into opposition from the warlords and the struggle for power within the ranks of former allies began, which turned out to be a natural outcome of the Civil War. United under the slogan of overthrowing the Libyan dictator, members of the TNC from the very beginning did not represent any sort of a consolidated group. They had quite different ideological and religious views; they consisted of Islamists from Benghazi, secular nationalists and former members of the Gaddafi government, as well as expatriates and business leaders. As the same time on an important role in the TNC is being played by warlords, including those associated with "Al-Qaeda." In December 2011 there was a major conflict between the TNC and several rebel forces relating to appointments to key positions in this structure. This situation reflected the specifics of Libyan society, where there was a lack of an elite group capable of supporting the army in a coup. Therefore, the situation was transformed into a separatist movement with a rather amorphous leadership, many of whom were immigrants. The real power belongs to the individual military field commanders, rather than the central government. The most striking example of the actual anarchy in Libya was the recent capture of Tripoli Airport, which one of the tribal militias took control of with surprising ease, without meeting any resistance.
The struggle for power within the ranks of former allies began, which turned out to be a natural outcome of the Civil War. United under the slogan of overthrowing the Libyan dictator, members of the TNC from the very beginning did not represent any sort of a consolidated group.
There a lack of unity in the political segment of the Libyan society. Thus, two parties claim to be the leaders of the Islamic movement - the Party of Justice and construction ("Muslim Brotherhood") and the Nationalist Party (which, according to some sources, is associated with the Islamists of Qatar).The competition to the Islamists is constituted by the so-called Liberals who favor modernization of the country in a Western-style (National Front is represented by Yusuf Magaryaf , a famous opponent of the Gaddafi regime and the Alliance of National Forces, Jibril Mahmoud , the Former Prime Minister of the transitional administration).
The difficult economic situation enhances the activity of armed groups. Libyans in the reign of al-Gaddafi became accustomed to social subsidies and depended on government support and are demanding their part of the country’s wealth. Since the formation of the new government, it has repeatedly had to deal with financial claims. Thus, in early May 2012 a detachment of former "rebels" seized the government building, claiming that the government of Abdul Rahim al-Kib had not paid them compensation for the overthrow of the Gaddafi regime.
The difficult economic situation enhances the activity of armed groups. Libyans in the reign of al-Gaddafi became accustomed to social subsidies and depended on government support and are demanding their part of the country’s wealth.
In parallel with this struggle for power, a process of tribal separatism has begun, which is based on the historical conflict between western and eastern provinces of the country which includes groups of national and ethnic minorities. One of the mainstays of the Libyan "counter-revolution" remains the city of Bani Walid, which in January 2012 came under the control of former supporters of Muammar Gaddafi and is the focus the main fighting forces of the TNC.
Armed clashes between tribes in Libya continue in 2012. At the beginning of April 2012 a Tuareg representative in the government, M. Al Kuhn resigned, to express protest against the inaction of the authorities against the persecution of ethnic groups in western Libya. The leader of the Libyan tribe the Tobu Isa Abdelmajid Mansour also announced the reinstatement of the organization "The Front for the Salvation of the Libyan Tobu" to protect the Tobu from ethnic cleansing.
"If this is not enough he said, we will demand foreign intervention and begin creating an independent state just like South Sudan”.
On May 16, 2012 an armed group from the Tuareg tribe (which is charged with the new Libyan authorities of complicity with the former Libyan leader) attacked the town of Ghadames (on the border of Algeria and Tunisia).
In parallel with this struggle for power, a process of tribal separatism has begun, which is based on the historical conflict between western and eastern provinces of the country which includes groups of national and ethnic minorities.
In early March 2012 the leaders of the tribes of the eastern part of Libya, in favor of a federal structure for the country, announced the creation of the autonomous region Kirenaika and Sheikh Ahmad Al-Senusi was elected the chairman of the Supreme Council. This Council called on Libyans to boycott the upcoming elections. Their main complaint to the TNC is the fact that before the vote on the Constituent Assembly and holding of elections, it is necessary to reach an agreement in principle between the main forces and groups with respect to the fundamental principles on which to build a new state. Without such an agreement on key issues of future polity for the country and basic constitutional principles between the main powers and groups, according to supporters of the federation, it makes no sense to hold any elections.
"Representative democracy" Revolution of February 17
The adoption of the Constitution is one of the most important issues for modern Libya, for the first time in 43 years the country will determine not only the form its government, but also the nature of the regime and its ideology, the basis of its economic, domestic and foreign policy.
The fact that there is no common understanding on the future of the Libyan state is confirmed by the fact that the formation of a new legal framework is not consistent, it is happening spontaneously and under the influence of certain forces and groups that the transitional government is unable to resist.
On January 28, 2012 the electoral law of Libya was adopted, developed by the TNC, according to which the Constituent Assembly elections would be held. The law, which consists of 13 chapters and 57 articles is of interest not only for its specific content, but above all by the fact that a document of this kind was first developed in a country where for decades there was a particular form of government, known as "Jamahiriyan democracy" and the status of the head of state was deinstitutionalized. Libyan nationals for the first time will participate in the election of a representative and legislative organ of state power, which was characterized by the "Green Book” [1] as a "falsification of democracy" because democracy in accordance with “Third world theory” meant "the power of the people, not the power of those who advocate on their behalf." In this regard, we note at once a characteristic feature of this paper: first, a fairly large group of citizens are prohibited from participating in the electoral process, including Libyans living abroad, and secondly, extremely tough selection methods are applied to those who may represent the Libyan people in the transitional parliament: 14 clauses (!) of the Act list the categories of people who are forbidden to stand as candidates in the upcoming elections, including everyone who was part of the apparatus of the previous regime or opposed the Revolution of February 17, etc. In describing these very "unusual" requirements for candidates, one should pay attention to the fact that they contradict the principle of presumption of innocence (the restriction of voting rights must be based solely on judicial decisions and apply for a certain period of time), so the procedure for application of these provisions is absolutely not clear (in Iraq, for example, for the principal of lustration a committee was formed to "deselect" which caused considerable controversy, and additional political problems). A provision stating that the candidate should have “professional qualifications" not only be qualified under the "Green Book" is contrary to accepted international standards which declare that there should be no discrimination to hold an official position. It is obvious that in this way these provisions are potentially open to absolutely arbitrary application. There are other serious flaws in this law, which does not allow us considering the future elected body of Libya as truly representative.
Other laws, passed in May 2012, also seem odious, and the new Libyan authorities have already been subjected to severe criticism from international human rights organizations. The first of these is an amnesty law that prohibits criminal prosecution of those who fought against the regime of Muammar Gaddafi (in fact, it granted amnesty to all fighters, regardless of their specific actions during the civil war and after it). The second law imposed criminal penalties (up to life imprisonment) for the glorification of Gaddafi, his sons and his regime, and for disseminating "false information and rumors which spread terror among the population” but on June 14, this law was repealed.
Another document provides for the punishment in the form of imprisonment for insulting the Muslim religion, the state and its institutions during the transition period.
In April, the TNC adopted a law on political parties, banning the formation of political parties based on religion (such a prohibition is contained in the legislation of all the Arab republics), but on May 2nd, under pressure from religious powers, the TNC abandoned this position.
It is obvious that with such a legal basis (or rather legal indecision), the political process will not contribute to the consolidation of the Libyan society, moreover, it probably eliminates the possibility of the coexistence of different groups of Libyan society within a single state.
Meanwhile, the adoption of the Constitution is one of the most important issues for modern Libya, for the first time in 43 years the country will determine not only the form its government, but also the nature of the regime and its ideology, the basis of its economic, domestic and foreign policy. There is no historical experience of the electoral process, party interaction and parliamentary debates in the country. Do not forget that in this country there was a unique system of rule that took into account the specific geography and tribal organization of society, uniting the three historical provinces and reinforced by their own ideologies, combines traditional law (adat), with the ideas of socialism and Islam.
"Witch Hunt" – Is this an attempt to consolidate power?
Libyan rebels eat lunch in front of
a wall covered in graffiti mocking Libya's
leader Moamer Kadhafi, in the rebel-held city
of Benghazi, in eastern Libya, on April 14, 2011
AFP PHOTO/MARWAN NAAMANI
Simultaneously with laws, which were adopted in order to exclude from the political process certain groups of citizens, the persecution of citizens of other states began. Thus, it was reported that TNC officials checked the French oil and gas company “Total SA”, which is "suspected" of aiding the former leader of Libya.
The image of the country and its investment attractiveness was not improved by the arrest and detention of ICC (International Criminal Court) staff, as well as a very hasty trial of 24 citizens of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, which were recognized as foreign mercenaries and sentenced to long prison terms. In this case hearings were conducted by a military tribunal, which is subordinate to the Ministry of Defense of Libya. The Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for cooperation with countries in Africa, M. Margelov described these actions as "causing a problem", while emphasizing that "the “witch hunt”, which unfolded on this disturbing background, added nothing good to the image of the new state”. This, of course, complicates the recovery of Russian-Libyan relations and the return of Russian business to the Libyan market. However, foreign companies have experienced similar problems, down to serious financial risks involved in the real and virtual absence of legitimate authority in the country.
In this regard, there is an analogy with a notorious 1998 case of Bulgarian nurses accused of infecting Libyan children with a mass infection of AIDS, in which the current chairman of the TNC Mustafa Abdel Jalil played an important role. Being at that time the chairman of the court of appeals of Tripoli, he twice (!) rejected appeals and upheld a death sentence. This strengthened the position of M.Abdel Jalil (who was later appointed Minister of Justice) and increased his popularity as a lawyer and expert on Islamic law.
The Libyan authorities have created a new law for people, who "contributed to the criminal regime” by repairing military equipment, is, of course, political in nature and apparently is aimed, on one hand to demonstrate their independence, thus raising their popularity within the country, and to punish those who do not immediately support them. Thus, while welcoming the possible return of Russia to the Libyan market, Prime Minister Abdel Rahim al-Kib on March 9, 2012 in Washington, reiterated his dissatisfaction with the position taken by Russia in the civil war. On the one hand this is a tool to put pressure on the European Union, which has recently been adopting an increasingly critical assessment of the new Libyan government, noting the uncontrolled spread of weapons, the continuing flow of migrants and violation of human rights. These are issues that can be solved only by a strong state. Therefore, the main objective remains the question of the unity of the country and the union of the tribes. If this issue is not resolved, the situation in Libya could have a destabilizing effect on the entire Middle East.
Recent history demonstrates that the stabilization of the political situation in multi-confessional and multi-ethnic tribal societies has not taken place for many years, and all the efforts of the international community (though the "efforts" in Libya have once again confirmed their double standards) do not lead to tangible positive results. A striking example of which is Iraq, where the adoption of a new constitution in 2005 and the formation of the new "democratic" government bodies have been in place for six years. However, Iraq's constitutional model has not proved its viability and did not answer the key question of the stability of this kind of regime, and Arab society continues trying to solve the difficult dilemma: which is better, stability and security in the face of authoritarianism or democracy and freedom in a situation of chaos. At present, the formation of the new Libyan state seems very vague. In general, the mechanism of overthrowing Gaddafi appears more like the scenario of the overthrow of the government in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the political process in these countries in recent years does not allow looking in the future of Libya with optimism . The process of preparing and holding elections to the Constituent Assembly as soon as possible will answer the question of whether Libya will be a single state.
1. “The Green Book” of Gaddafi was a specific constitution and it determined the path of the politics and ideologies of national development. It is a theoretical work by Muammar Gaddafi, which laid the foundations of his “Third World Theory”. The law refers to those who have been involved in the study of this work from a scientific point of view (legal, historical, economic, etc.), developed in their writings this theory, was engaged in its further development, defended the dissertation and, accordingly, received a degree or a Science diploma.
(no votes) |
(0 votes) |
