Despite elections, Libya unravels
Libya continues its descent into chaos as armed militias continue to hold sway over national politics, writesKamel Abdallah
Despite attempts by the Libyan government to steady the troubled country on the path to democracy, signs of malaise are everywhere.
On Thursday, 20 February, Libyans went to the polls to elect the 60-member Constitutive Assembly that should write the country's new constitution. But the day was marred by violence, leading to a low turnout and renewed doubts about the government's ability to rein in the wilful interference in political life by the country's powerful militias.
To complicate things further, tribal minority communities in the country voiced their dissatisfaction with the formation of the 60-member Constitutive Assembly, claiming that they were underrepresented. Six seats have been allotted to the country's three tribal minorities, the Amazigh, Tuareg and Tabu, at the rate of two seats each. Tribal leaders pointed out that each of the country's ethnic minorities was given six seats each in the Constitutive Assembly that wrote the constitution under Idris Al-Senussi, the country's last king.
A few days ago, the Qaaqaa and Sawaeq Brigades, two powerful militia hailing from the city of Zintan in western Libya, took the unusual measure of telling the country's interim parliament, the General National Congress (GNC), to step down or face "arrest".
The parliament's performance is generally viewed as dismal, and many Libyans wish it to disband. But the blatant interference by the two militias, who are known to be sympathetic to the liberal current in the country, was too much to take.
Disillusion among the public must have played a role in the low turnout in the Thursday elections, which was also fraught with administrative lapses.
Errors were reported in the registration of voters, and many who had voted in the past discovered that their names had disappeared from the lists.
Marauding gunmen were also blamed for disrupting elections in various parts of the country, leading to the closure of several polling stations in Kafra, Derna and Nalut. Even in Benghazi, where security was supposed to be tight, an explosion took place in one of the polling stations.
The Amazigh community promised to challenge the Constitutive Assembly elections, saying that it violated its cultural and social rights.
To reduce tensions in the Thursday vote, the government arranged for candidates to run individually, without disclosing their affiliation with the country's parties, whose performance in the interim parliament left much to be desired.
Libyan parties were blamed as being the reason for the political and security tensions in the country. Their bickering, as well as their association with various militias, is seen as responsible for Libya's dysfunctional political process.
There have been calls for Libya's political parties to be excluded from the writing of the constitution, so that the country can have a charter that is unhampered by conflicting interests.
Libya's Supreme Elections Commission (SEC) said that a second round of voting would be held on Wednesday, 26 February, in all centres that had to close down because of disruptions.
SEC Chief Nuri Al-Abbar said that the commission is holding talks with the GNC and the government to assuage the concerns of the country's minorities, including the Amazigh and Tabu.
The SEC has been declaring the results of the elections as soon as the ballot boxes were counted in Tripoli.
So far, the liberal and the federal currents seem to be ahead in Benghazi and the cities of the east.
Among the winners so far are renowned liberal economist Ali Al-Tarhuni, constitutional law professor Abdel-Qader Qadura, federal supporter Abdel-Jawwad Al-Badin, and women activist Om Al-Ezz Al-Farsi.
In a bizarre development, two of the militias from Zintan issued a statement on Wednesday, 19 February, giving the GNC five hours to resign or be arrested as "usurpers" of power.
The ultimatum, which many found disturbing, is not without legal basis.
The GNC was supposed to disband on 7 February, according to the constitutional declaration of August 2011. The GNC's extension of its own term, till the next elections, was both unexpected as well as controversial.
The ultimatum that the Zintan militia issued to the GNC is symptomatic of the political schism in the country, and how it can turn into a bloody military confrontation unless serious steps are taken towards reconciliation and the disarming of the militias.
There are two opposing constellations of armed groups in Libya today. The ones based in Misrata are generally supportive of the Islamists, while the ones based in Zintan are friends with the liberal current.
International mediators have been busy trying to defuse the tensions in Libya. Particularly active in the mediation was Tarek Mirti, the UN emissary who called for a diplomatic solution of the current crisis. US, EU, UK, French and Italian officials have also called for self-restraint on all sides.
Animosity among the rival militia is claiming high-level victims.
Othman Milaiqtah, commander of the Qaaqaa Brigade, one of the two militia groups that issued the infamous ultimatum to the interim government, has been seriously injured in what is said to have been an assassination attempt. According to some reports, he is now receiving treatment outside the country.
His supporters have threatened revenge against the perpetrators.
The assassination attempt is said to have taken place while the GNC was discussing ways of defusing the current crisis and reining in the militia.
The Zintan based militia, including the powerful Qaaqaa and Sawaeq Brigades, are generally viewed as the military wing of the liberal-leaning National Forces Alliance.
Meanwhile, the Misrata-based militia, including the Libyan Revolutionaries' Operations Room (LROR), accused of involvement in the abduction of Interim Prime Minister Ali Zeidan on 5 October 2013, are generally allied to the Islamist current.
On Sunday, the Zintan fighters and Islamist gunmen clashed in the Tripoli district of Abu Salim, just as the parliament was discussing a joint report by the interior and defence ministries of what to do with the country's marauding militias.
A member of the GNC, interviewed by phone, told Al-Ahram Weekly that Libya is experiencing continued difficulties because of the disproportionate power and disruptive actions of its semi-independent militia groups.
On Friday, a Libyan Antonov military plane crashed in Tunisia, killing all 11 people aboard. Among those who perished in the crash was a well-known Islamist, Meftah Dawoudi, who was undersecretary at the Libyan Ministry of Martyrs and a key member of the LROR.
Meanwhile, former Libyan commander Major General Khalifa Hifter released a video calling on all Libyans to rise against the GNC.
Hifter, who played a major role in the revolution that ended Gaddafi's rule, is currently wanted by military investigators for announcing a coup d'etat and calling for the appointment as head of state of the chief of the Supreme Council of the Judiciary, Ali Mawloud Hafiza. The announcement proved false.
Soon after that call, the Libyan public prosecutor lifted immunity from Hafiza, so as to investigate allegations that his actions in office "exceeded" his lawful powers.
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