Total seats in the congress: 200 seats: 80 seats for political
parties; 120 for individual candidates.
08/08/2012:
The Opening Ceremony
On the 8th of August 2012 the NTC has officially handed over power to
the General National Conference (المؤتمر الوطني العام) -- also known as the General
National Congress. From today the GNC is the sole, legitimate representative
of the Libyan people. The ceremony took place at Ghabet Alnaser Convention Centre
in Tripoli under tight security. The day before the ceremony, the Interior Ministry
stepped up security in all the roads parallel and leading to the Rixos hotel.
During the ceremony, the chairman of the NTC Mustafa Abdul Jalil was reported
to have informed the congress that the NTC has made 'mistakes' and that they
were unable to state the law during the transition. He also "urged"
the congress to attend to the matters of 'security', 'disarmament', and 'treating
the wounded'. It was also reported that the NTC had filed its final report about
its operations during the transitional period, which they will hand over to the
GNC during the ceremony.
Photo Source: Libya.tv
09/08/2012:
The President of The General National Congress
The first session of the congress was held on the 9th of August 2012. It was
chaired by the oldest member of the conference, Mr. Mohammad Ali Salim (born
in 1935, Qasr Alakhyar). In the first voting round, conducted on the 8th
of August 2012, the results were reported as follows:
80 votes: Ali Zidan, an independent candidate
60 votes: Mohammad Yousef Almagarief, the leader of the National Front party
- رئيس حزب الجبهة الوطنية للإنقاذ
53 votes: Abdurrahman Asewehli, the leader of the Union for Homeland party
- رئيس حزب الإتحاد من أجل الوطن
After the final round of voting, conducted on the 9th of August 2012, Dr.
Almagarief secured a total of 113 votes, and therefore from today Dr. Almagarief
is officially Libya’s acting Head of State. It was reported that the extra votes
gained by Dr. Almagarief in the second round came from the votes that went to
Abdurrahman Asewehli in the previous round. The results of the final round are:
Mohammed Yousef Almagarief: 113 votes.
Ali Zidan: 85 votes.
10/08/2012:
First Vice President of the General National Congress
On the 10th of August 2012, members of the conference have voted Mr. Juma'a
Ahmed Ateega as the first vice president of the GNC. The full results of the
first round are as follows:
Juma'a Ahmed Ateega: 75 votes.
Saleh Mohammed Almakhzoum: 72 votes.
Solaiman Younis Qajem: 37 votes.
Senussi Erhouma Mohammed: 11 votes.
The second round results:
Juma'a Ahmed Ateega: 103 votes.
Saleh Mohammed Almakhzoum: 93 votes.
First Vice President Juma'a Ahmed Ateega, an independent congressman
from Misrata.
Photo source: gnc.gov.ly/
10/08/2012:
Second Vice President of the General National Congress
On the 10th of August 2012, members of the conference have voted Mr. Saleh
Mohammed Almakhzoum as the second vice president of the GNC. The full results
are as follows:
Saleh Mohammed Almakhzoum: 106 votes.
Masoud Abdussalam Abid Attaher: 86 votes.
Second Vice President Saleh Mohammed Almakhzoum,
Justice & Construction party, Wadi Eshatti district, Fezzan.
Photo source: gnc.gov.ly/
The Website of the GNC
The first version of the Arabic website of the General
National Congress (المؤتمر الوطني العام ): gnc.gov.ly/
On the 25th of June 2013, Mr. Nuri Ali Abusahmain was elected president of
the GNC. The previous president, Dr. Mohammad Yousef Almagarief,
was forced to resign on the 28th of May 2013 after the passing of the controversial
Isolation Law. Mr. Abusahmain represents the Berber town Zuwarah at the General
National Congress. Only 184 members (out of 200) took part in the voting. Two "papers"
were excluded because of "errors". Abdelmunaim Alwahishi, Benghazi
member at the GNC (also a candidate), was reported by LANA to have resigned after
the voting had ended, due to his inability to function in a congress dominated
by partisan inclinations and lacking transparency and objectivity.
First Round Results:
Nuri Abusahmain: 73 votes
Sharif Alwafi: 60 votes
Fawzi Rajab: 17 votes
Abdelmunaim Alwahishi: 10 votes
Musa Faraj Saleh: 10 votes
Juma Asaeh: 4 votes
Muhammed Saad Mazeb: 4 votes
Safwan Milad Ali: 2 votes
Idris Muhammed Boufaid: 1 vote
Second Round Results:
Nuri Abusahmain: 96 votes
Sharif Alwafi: 80 votes
النائب الاول لرئيس المؤتمر
First Vice President Ezzedin Mohammed Younis al-Awami.
Photo source: gnc.gov.ly/
Mr. al-Awami was elected on Sunday the 24th of November 2013 as the second
First Vice President of the GNC. The position was vacant for nearly five months,
after Mr. Ateega resigned in July 2013. Mr. al-Awami is an independent
congressman from al-Merj, Cyrenaica.
The elections were declared a success with 62% turnout, and were completed
without any major issues, apart from a number of vandalised election centres,
a few violations, and one election helicopter shot down over Benghazi.
According to the HNEC the elections were observed by 27,454 observers including
180 international observers, 358 international journalists, 1015 local journalists,
11,344 local observers, and 14,394 observers representing the participating parties
and candidates.
Nearly 9 days elapsed since the elections started and still there are no published
full results. It was reported that the HNEC is recounting some of the votes from
Benghazi, counting ballots from abroad, and looking into a number of appeals
filed following the release of the partial results. The partial results have
been coming in since the 9th of July 2012, as published at http://www.hnec.ly/modules/results/.
In total there are 20 files published including six partial results files, one
complete preliminary file, and 13 files listing winners by district. You
can download any of these files from the lists of downloads given below.
The "districts" and "individuals"
distribution identifies some unexplained violations of the principles outlined
by Article (6) of the Constitutional Declaration that resulted in "some" Libyans being
deprived from voting for "party-election". There were other violations,
listed under the preliminary results including those reported by the Shahed and
the Carter Centre.
The following table by Temehu.com summarises only the party-election partial
results, followed by the preliminary results table of the 17th of July 2012.
The parties are listed by number (the first column on the left), except for the
first two. The rest of the names are listed against the corresponding numbers
in the second table (see below). The top row shows the areas within each electoral
district including sub-districts. Only the top ten parties from
each result are shown in the partial results table, accordingly numbered from
1 to 10. For example, the NFA won 1st place in 17 districts; came 4th in
Ubari and Misrata; and never made it to the top ten in Wadi Ashati. In total
there are 20 districts: 13 main districts and 7 sub districts.
Winner: NFA (National
Forces Alliance) - landslide victory, with an overwhelming margin.
Runner-up: J&C (Justice & Construction
party) - counting only the votes gained by both parties in "Tripoli
Central" area, the J&C secured 4,774 votes -- just under 9.7%
of the votes secured by the NFA: 46,225 votes.
Benghazi: the J&C scored a little more votes in
Benghazi: 16,143 votes -- around 17% of the votes gained by the NFA in
Benghazi: 95,773 votes.
Sabha: the NFA also secured the top spot in Sabha,
with a majority of 8,712 votes; while the J&C fell to third place
(with 2,584 votes). The second place is taken by the National Libeek
Gathering (with 3,123 votes).
Misrata: the only three districts where the NFA lost
the first place is Misrata, Ubari and Wadi Shati. Misrata went for "الاتحاد
من أجل الوطن : Alittihad Min Ajel Alwathan: The Union for Homland",
with a majority of 24,476 votes.
The only two dominant parties for most areas are the NFA and the J&C.
Out of the 20 electoral districts and sub-districts included in the above
table (based on the results published so far), the NFA won top spot in
17 districts; while the J&C won second place in 13 districts.
3rd Place:
the above table shows there are no clear third, fourth or fifth places,
as the votes are scattered across a number of parties, each securing
one or two places in different areas. The third place is won by the National
Front and the National Centrist Party, both of which won 3 third-places
each. Overall there are 13 different parties securing just one or two
third-place positions.
4th & 5th: the
fourth place was taken by 15 different parties, one of which won 4th
place in 4 districts. The 5th place was shared by 13 parties, three of
which won 5th place in 3 districts.
The table of parties disintegrates beyond this point, naturally resulting
from the fantastical number of the participating parties, created
in the background while Libyans were kept busy shelling each others'
homes under the eyes of the law. "Divide and ruin"
can only be defeated by unite and rule.
The top ten places in all the 20 districts of Libya were shared between
70 parties.
The list of participating parties was said to consist of 150 parties.
However, the number of political entities registered at the HNEC was
said to be 374 political entities.
The preliminary results were published by the HNEC on Tuesday the 17th of
July 2012, at 21:00 HH (9 pm).
Parties
('Political Entities':الكيانات السياسية)
Percentage
Seats
1
National Forces Alliance (تحالف القوى الوطنية)
48.8%
39
2
Justice and Construction (حزب العدالة والبناء)
21.3%
17
3
The National Front Party (حزب الجبھة الوطنية)
3.8%
3
4
Wadi Alhayat Gathering for Democracy & Development
(تجمع وادي الحياة
للديمقراطية والتنمية)
2.5%
2
5
The Union for Homeland (الاتحاد من اجل الوطن)
2.5%
2
6
National Centrist Party (التيار الوطني الوسطي)
2.5%
2
All other parties (آخرون)
18.8%
15
Total:
100.2%
80
Result Errors And Unexplained Violations of the Constitutional
Declaration
Article (30) of the same CD says the NTC must within 90
days of liberation issue a special law for electing the General National Congress
and for appointing the HNEC. But Law 4/2012 was passed on 28th of January 2012. Law
29 itself, regulating 'political parties', was passed on the 2nd of May
2012; but applying for registering political parties was only scheduled
to start from the 26th of May 2012. The Constitutional Amendment Number
2 (2012) was passed on the 10th of June 2012; and the Constitutional
Amendment Number 3 (2012) was passed on the 5th of July 2012 -- just two
days before the election day.
The published percentages of the results (in the above chart)
add up to 100.2%,
even though the PDF
file published by the HNEC erroneously shows the total to be 100.0%. This
may be considered as a minor error and should be ignored, no doubt, but considering
it is to do with "counting" and more so with "counting votes",
accuracy is of paramount importance, simply because such errors would naturally
shed some doubt over the accuracy of the results overall.
Barring Berbers From Party Elections: only 12 districts out of 13 districts are included
in party elections. The excluded district, by mere chance, happened to be "District
8" -- largely dominated by the [persecuted] Berbers of
Nafousa Mountain and the Berbers of Ghadames. Why is only one district barred
from taking part in party elections? The reason for this democratic violation,
according to one analyst from the SOAS, is that the Islamist parties were worried the
Berbers would not vote for them and thus would fail to gain the majority they
planned to "get" at the GNC. It became clear later that the GNC was indeed dominated
by Islamist Parties. Article (6) of the Constitutional
Declaration "promises" all Libyans "equal opportunities",
and while
NTC's Law
14/2012 lists a total of 13 districts in Libya, in reality only
12 districts were allowed to take part in the party-election; thereby depriving
Libyan voters from one single district from having equal opportunity to vote
for party-elections. The HNEC may have a valid answer
for this exclusion, and if so, then the HNEC is urged to explain these anomalies
to the Libyan people.
This is how numbers run from one to nine: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10.
Ask the NTC for what happened to numeral 8?
This missing district is not Benghazi or Tripoli or Bayda, but the Berber
Mountain and other Berber areas.
Click on the image for Law 14/2012.
On the other hand, most of the other districts were
allowed to vote for both: "parties" and "individuals" -- even
though the Shahed report (see below) stated that one of the HNEC staff in Derna
had prevented the use of both voting ballots (individuals and parties) and asked
voters to use only one of them.
The only Libyan website so far to reference the violation of Article (6)
is Alwatan (http://www.alwatan-libya.com/more-23036-22-ملاحظات
حول الانتخابات الليبية يمكن أن تشكل خروقات انتخابية يجوز الطعن فيها). According
to Dr. Abdullah Arrabthi, from the Medicine College at Tripoli University, there
are other "breaches" that may warrant the results to be legally challenged
against Article (6), such as the election and party laws were not published early
enough to allow parties and candidates enough time to make themselves known to
the voters. One comment left for Dr. Arrabthi's report stated that Mahmoud Jibril
used his photo for the advertising campaign for the NFA even though he is not
a candidate, and that many Libyans were puzzled not to find his name in the list
of the candidates they voted for; implying that people thought they were voting
for Mahmoud Jibril when in fact he is not a candidate.
Of course, Article (6) of the Constitutional
Declaration violates the Constitutional Declaration itself by declaring all Libyans
are "equal" regardless of "language", while at the same time
Article (1) declares "Arabic" the only official language in Libya
-- even though "Berber" is the native language of Libya and not Arabic. [See
the Carter Centre Statement, below, for further violations of the Constitutional
Declaration.]
According to Mahmoud Jibril, the president of the NFA, the election
law acreed by the NTC is "not democratic" because even though
nearly one million voted for the NFA only 39 seats were secured by the NFA
at the GNC (out of 200 seats) because the law placed more importance on indivuals
rather than parties or coalitions, and therefore, he adds, even though the
Libyans blamed the NFA for this failure the real blame lies with the NTC.
Mahmoud Jibril blames the NTC for the election law which
he regards being not democratic.
He also questions if future elections could be trusted to be transparent!
There were a number of issues and inconsistencies in relation to
both the constitutional declaration and the whole electoral system adopted by
the NTC. The Carter report
recommended that "In future, the election management body should give
careful consideration to the protection of minority rights in the voter registration
process" [p. 13].
Serious violations in Tripoli
were reported by "Shahed Network for Election Monitoring" (see election
observers' reports, below):
"there were noticeable campaigns inside the polling centre to
affect the voters. This contradicts the election Law and procedures and considered
as a serious violation of voters’ right to vote freely, therefore, Shahed team
call the HNEC to consider all procedures that prevent these abuses."
HNEC Staff Violations: the Shahed report reveals
more serious violations by officials to influence the voters to favour a particular
party in Sbeedat School centre in the "seventh district". Also
voters in Shohadaa Alkhaleej School centre were influenced by an "active
campaign" for the favour of some [unnamed] party. In one of women's centres
in Murzuq the voters were influenced to favour one particular unnamed party.
In Khoms (centre No. 1003152) the wrong candidate lists were delivered to the
centre; and the voters’ lists from Khoms were mixed with other voters' lists
from Meslateh.
Special Needs: according to the Shahed Report,
15% of the polling centres were unqualified to receive people with special needs,
thereby preventing this category of Libyans from their right to vote. The Shahed
report can be downloaded from the website of the HNEC, or by clicking on the
link provided at the end of these observations.
Appeals: the HNEC in its website (www.hnec.ly/modules/publisher/item.php?itemid=350)
announced that voters have two days to lodge any appeals they might have, starting
from the date on which the results were released. The results were published
on the 17th of July at 9pm (3 hours before the end of the day), but this appeal
announcement was published by the HNEC in its website on the 18th of July --
a day after the results were made known. The two days are followed by a total
12 days for the judges to look into the appeals, according to the following process:
وذكر "العبار" أن هذه الفترة ستستمر لمدة أربعة عشر يوما وقد خُصصت على
النحو التالي : يومان للطعن في النتائج الآولية ، ثم يومان للنظر في الطعن من قبل
القاضي الجزئي ، ثم خمسة لاستئناف قرار القاضي الجزئي ، ثم خمسة أيام أخر للنظر
في الإستئناف من قبل رئيس المحكمة الإبتدائية أو من يفوضه ، وذلك وفقا للقانون رقم
أربعة، وأضاف أن بعد إستكمال مرحلة الطعون سيتم الإعلان عن النتائج النهائية والمصادقة
عليها ، والتي ستبدأ بها مرحلة انتقال السلطة من المجلس الوطني الإنتقالي المؤقت
إلى المؤتمر الوطني العام
Election Observers' Reports
The HNEC's website lists four reports, by the African Union, Shahed Network
for Election Monitoring, the Arab league, and the Carter Centre. The Carter
report linked to from the website of the HNEC contains hardly any observations,
let alone violations, in comparison to the copy found at the website of the Carter
Centre itself. In this Carter's report one reads, "Many
people who spoke with Carter Center observers expressed excitement at their new
ability to speak freely and to discuss politics without fear of intimidation." The
Shahed
report was also initially published by the election commission at
(http://www.hnec.ly/modules/publisher/item.php?itemid=346),
but has since disappeared.
The
following observations were extracted from the Shahed and the Carter reports:
(1) - The Shahed Report:
"Shahed Network is a domestic election observation initiative. It
consists of civil society organizations and individuals in each of the (13) main
constituencies in Libya. Shahed is committed to observing the electoral process
in accordance with internationally recognized standards of domestic election
observation. The network consists of volunteers who plan to be present in as
many polling stations as possible. Shahed Network is working with, and supported
by NDI."
High turnout in Tripoli, Misrata, Benghazi and Sabha.
Modest turnout in Albaydaa and Ajdabya.
HNEC staff were transparent in their methods and procedures.
Up to 96% of the polling stations witnessed the availability of all the necessary
materials required.
The necessary materials for the election process were not delivered to Khaled
Bin Alwaleed School centre in Brega.
There are a number of incidents where HNEC staff showed lack of understanding
of voting procedures: one of the staff in Darnah area prevented the use of both
voting ballots (individuals and parties) and asked voters to use only one of
them.
Albayda: there has been total chaos due to the absence of the staff responsible
for female voters.
Ain Zara centre: the wrong voting ballots were delivered
to the centre.
Khoms (centre No. 1003152): the wrong candidate lists
were delivered to the centre; and the voters’ lists from Khoms were mixed
with other voters' lists from Msellatah.
Shahed team observed that most of the polling centres were easily reachable
with no obstacles.
15% of the polling centres were unqualified to receive people with special
needs, preventing this category of Libyans from their right of voting.
Delay in opening some polling stations, as in Shohadaa Azzawiah School centre
in Benghazi, Awad Abbar School centre, centre No. (40022), Zarqa Alyamamah centre,
centre No. (031402), and Ibraheem Gazaari School centre.
Most of the polling centres witnessed a good security environment.
Major security violations in Albaydaa, Ajdabya and Tobruk:
Polling centres were attacked and voting process suspended in many polling
centres.
Voting materials were stolen in Attaleah School centre; apparent chaos.
Voting materials were stolen: the following centres were attacked
by armed men who threatened the staff of the HNEC to stop the election process:
Annahdah School
Independence School
Omar Mukhtar School
Martyrs of the Damour School
Ali Issa School
Wehdah School
Tarek ibn Ziyad School
All the polling centres in Ajdabya were attacked and suffered from "total
chaos".
Khansaa School centre in Albaydaa: total chaos reported, due to a "brawl
in the polling centre".
Marej: voting boxes were stolen and the centre was attacked.
Ballot boxes were stolen in centre No. (0100741) by a "group
of armed men with white guns".
Ashbelieh centre in "Gryan": the staff and women voters were attacked:
shooting, chaos and stealing ballot boxes.
Alquba: Afreeqa centre was attacked by armed men.
Ekhlas and Karameh School centre: ballot boxes were stolen by armed
men.
Benghazi:
Freedom School: explosives (gelatin) were used in the polling centres:
Ibraheem Jarari School centre: was completely destroyed.
Brigades of Freedom School: attacked by a number of armed men who "detained
the staff", with "total chaos" and "shooting inside
the centre".
Jamal Abdel Nasser School was "burned in Gmenes".
Ajdabya-Wehdah centre: ballot boxes were stolen.
Ajdabya: Independence School centre: ballot boxes were stolen.
Alabyar: the polling centre was burned.
Shohadaa Abo Eareeq centre: polling centre was burned.
Omar Mukhtar School centre: attacked and the voting process was suspended.
Tripoli: Qalaah School centre: the observers and candidates representatives
were dismissed by the station director.
Tripoli: Halab School centre: there were "noticeable campaigns inside
the polling centre to affect the voters. This contradicts the election Law and
procedures and considered as a serious violation of voters’ right to vote freely,
therefore, Shahed team call the HNEC to consider all procedures that prevent
these abuses."
(2) - The Carter Report:
"The Carter Center conducted a limited election observation mission,
accrediting 45 observers from 21 countries and deploying 16 teams of observers.
On election day, observers visited more than 160 polling stations in 11 of 13
electoral districts, including teams in Ajdabiya, Al Bayda, Zuwiya, Gharyan,
Khoms, Benghazi, Sebha, Sabrata, Tobruk, Tripoli, and Zuwara."
"Carter Center observers were present for the full count at only
eight polling stations. This sample is too small to offer a reliable assessment
of the counting process."
Violations of the Constitutional Declaration: according to the
Carter report published at: www.cartercenter.org/resources/pdfs/news/pr/libya-prelim-statement-070912.pdf ,
"On July 5, 2012, just two days before election day, the NTC issued
a third amendment to the interim constitution, this time stating that the election
of the constitution drafting body would be carried out through free and direct
suffrage, “taking into consideration Libya’s cultural and linguistic diversity.”
This change is inconsistent with best practice, which calls for no changes to
the legal framework within three months of an election [8]. In this case, the
decision may have impaired voters’ ability to understand what they were voting
for and thus to make an informed choice."
"In future, the election management body should give careful consideration
to the protection of minority rights in the voter registration process [p. 13]."
NTC's elections law does not include all the provisions governing the electoral
process. Many important provisions were left to the executive regulations issued
by HNEC over a period of four months and up to seven days before election
day.
Since the release of the controversial constitutional declaration
and the ensued elections and districts laws, the Berbers of Tripolitania
(including Nafusa), the Cyrenaicans, and the Libyans of Fezzan were protesting
against the electoral system and its multitude of laws and amendments issued
by the NTC without consultation with the Libyan people. But no one came to their
aid with some "observations". The
Carter Statement says the Electoral System adopted by
the NTC, which uses three electoral systems for the GNC elections, made
it more difficult for political entities, candidates, and voters to understand
the process; and it also had implications for counting and tabulation. "While
elections in general aim to determine the will of the people and to promote their
right to select their own government, the specific type of electoral system that
is chosen promotes different types of representation and political behavior."
There "were isolated incidents of [candidate] posters being
defaced or torn down in Benghazi during the last week of June. As the election
drew closer, observers noted that posters had been damaged in several other cities,
including Zuwarah, Al Bayda, and Derna."
"Future electoral management bodies should devote increased resources
and efforts to conduct voter information and education campaigns to deepen the
voters’ understanding of the process and encourage increased participation in
the political process."
Several young voters were potentially excluded from the process due to
an early cutoff of the registration deadline [25]."
The "design of the electoral system and the quota structure does
not guarantee gender equity in the congress. The Carter Center strongly urges
that measures be implemented to ensure the effective representation of women
in any elected assembly in the future [12]."
"Although women played a notable role during the uprising, only
585 women registered as candidates. The vast majority of female candidates registered
on the PR list. Only 85 women registered as individual candidates."
The "brief exhibition period did not adequately allow voters to
review the registry and make the necessary corrections."
"The HNEC announced the final lists of candidates on June 18, 2012,
less than three weeks before election day, leaving a very narrow window for the
candidates to campaign."
"The election commission did not monitor probable violations of
campaign finance regulations during the campaign period . . . "
"The Center regrets that only 8,043 overseas voters cast a ballot
in these historic elections . . . While geographic considerations were taken
into account, there are questions about the choice not to extend OCV to certain
countries where large numbers of Libyan nationals reside, such as in Egypt and
Tunisia."
Not in this report, but in another statement published in its website (www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/libya-071812.html
), the Carter Centre wrote: "First, according to the election law and
regulations, both counting and recounting should take place in the district where
voting took place . . . While recognizing
serious security concerns, the decision to count and recount ballots from Kufra
in Tripoli is inconsistent with the law and violates the principle of transparency.
Second . . .
on several occasions auditors at the tally center appeared to correct calculations
or typographical mistakes without the knowledge of polling staff . . . Third,
triggers for quarantining questionable results were extremely limited. According
to HNEC officials, the database was programmed to quarantine results forms in
which the data was inconsistent, the number of votes received by candidates exceeded
the number of votes cast, or turnout was greater than 100 percent of registered
voters. In the future, the HNEC should consider employing additional and more
stringent quarantine triggers, for instance, to detect over 95 percent votes
for a one candidate; extremely high turnout in a particular polling station;
or discrepancies in the reconciliation of used, unused, spoiled, and cancelled
ballots with final vote totals."
"On the afternoon of election day, a decision was made by electoral
officials in Benghazi to allow registered voters from three polling centers to
vote in any polling center in the district.[2] Legally, this decision is contrary
to electoral regulations that state that voters are only allowed to vote in the
center where they have registered, and that polling staff should not allow anyone
whose name is not on the voters' list to vote.[3] The Center acknowledges the
extenuating circumstances under which this action was taken. While exceptional,
these decisions could have been avoided if the HNEC had adopted an emergency
operational plan in advance, rather than taking decisions on a case-by-case basis.
In future elections, an emergency operational plan should be developed and widely
disseminated to HNEC district offices and polling staff prior to election day." (www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/libya-071812.html)
"Five polling centers in Sidra opened only on the following day,
July 8, and three polling centers in Kufra and Ribiana opened only on July 10."
--------------------------------------------------------------- 3- Preliminary Complete Results of Winners By District:
---------------------------------------------------------------
A third set of results was published by the HNEC in its website. The results
were listed by district. After the appeal
process comes to end, the following results will be confirmed by the HNEC,
and the NTC will be replaced by the elected General National Congress (http://www.hnec.ly/modules/publisher/item.php?itemid=350).
On the 12th of September 2012 the deputy prime minister of the previous transitional
government of the NTC, Mustafa Abushagour (مصطفى أبو شاقور), has been elected
by the members of the GNC as the new Prime Minister of Libya. Only 190 members
(out of 200) took part in the two voting rounds. The first round was
won by Mr. Mahmoud Jibril, the former rebel prime minister of the NTC.
The First Round Results
Mahmoud Jibril
Mahmoud Jibril: 86
Mustafa Abushagour: 55
Awad Albarasi: 41
Abdulhamid Alnami: 3
Mohammed Alzway: 2
Mohammed Almufti: 1
Mohammed Berween: 1
Fathi Alakkari: 1
The Second Round Results
Mustafa Abushagour
Mustafa Abushagour: 96
Mahmoud Jibril: 94
The above figures show that all the votes gained by the Muslim Brotherhood’s
candidate Awad Albarasi in the first round went to Mustafa Abushagour in the
second round (55+41=96), and the remaining 8 went to Mahmoud Jibril (86+8=94).
According to Aljazeera [1], the unity of the two Islamic coalitions (of Abushagour
and Albarasi) had helped Abushagour win the second round, and that the two had
agreed on certain ministerial posts before the start of the second round.
According to Solidarity Press [2] a number of Libyans from Benghazi gathered
outside Tibisti hotel, calling for Jibril to be appointed the Prime Minister;
while other sources added that Mahmoud Jibril's coalition had won most of the
votes in the 7/7 elections (of 2012) and also most of the votes in the first
round of today's voting.
On the other hand many Libyans have already noted that the previous transitional
government, in which Abushagour was the Deputy Prime Minister, miserably failed
its duty and therefore called for a complete new government to lead out of the
imposed quagmire. On the 11th of August 2012 (just 3 days after the
hand-over ceremony ) the president Magarief was reported to have said that the
new government may including ministers from the previous transitional government --
indicating that the GNC knew from then that some members from the failed government
will be in the new one.
15 September 2012:
According to Solidarity Press [3], the spokesperson of the NFA, Mr Tawfeeq
Breek, said the alliance will not participate in any way in the next government,
headed by Mustafa Abushagour, and that the alliance will not assume any positions
or ministerial posts; stressing its rejection of all the decisions that will
be issued by the new government; while pointing out that his alliance believes
in democracy and respects the will of the members of the GNC, and that the alliance
was aware of the agreement on the annexation of votes between the Justice and
Construction party and Abushagour when ministerial portfolios were divided secretly
between the members of the Justice and Construction party and the GNC members
who voted for Abushagour. However, on the 17th of September
2012, New Quryna [4] said that the NFA had denied its refusal to take part in
the new government. And according to the NFA's Facebook page [5], the NFA's spokesman
denied he said his coalition will "object to all the decisions that will
come from the GNC", but to the contrary, he said, they will not be an obstacle
to the GNC.
18 September 2012: according to the head of the NFA's
political office, Abdulmajid Mliqta, the NFA will not take any part in Abushagour's
government, and that the coalition will assume the position of the "opposition";
while at the same time he said, according to Solidarity Press [6], the coalition
will support "any national project", nothing more. Solidarity Press
added that the NFA's leader, Mahmoud Jibril, had won the first round for the
position of Prime Minister, but lost in the second round.
18 September 2012: in an interview with Alassima [7] Mahmoud
Jibril did confirm the above statements, when he elaborated that the coalition
agrees with the "national consensus" (التوافق الوطني) that is based
on projects and programs for the benefit of the whole nation and not for ministerial
gains or power; but there are members within the congress, he added, who said
they have no objection to the NFA assuming positions in the government so long
as Mahmoud Jibril is excluded. They have presented the program to the Libyan
people, he said, and the people voted for it by 933,000 votes out of 1,700,000
people who voted, but what is happening inside the GNC is another story. What
matters to them, he confirmed, is their relationship with the Libyan people and
accordingly they will support any program designed to serve the Libyan nation. Regarding
the statement made by Zidan in relation to threats received by some members of
the GNC and regarding the latest revelation of el-Keib in relation to the mystery "authority
that is higher than the Libyan government", he replied saying that
one member of the GNC told Mr. Jibril that they received threats from within
the GNC stating that they will divide and plunge the country into civil war if
they voted for Jibril; and because of this Mahmoud Jibril added that he urges
the president Magarief to investigate this dangerous development within the congress
that constitutes a serious threat to democracy.
Mustafa Abushagour Proposes His Cabinet Number (1)
The awaited government was finally announced by the PM on the 4th of October
2012. The government had attracted strong criticism from the Libyan people and
from within the GNC. On the following day protesters from Zawiya broke into the
GNC and demanded a fair government. However, the GNC had rejected the proposed
government, and gave the PM Abushagour until Sunday to come up with an alternative
list. Some Libyans have called for the PM to be sacked because he is a holder
of an American Passport. The following are the rejected names proposed by the
PM:
Prime Minister: Mustafa Abushagour
Deputy Prime Ministers:
Omar al-Nakoua
Al-Haramain Mohammed al-Haramain
Saad al-Aqaibi
Ministers:
Foreign Minister: Mustafa Abushagour (temporary)
Finance Minister: Abdullah Shamiya
Defence Minister: Abdulsalam Jadallah al-Abeidi
Interior Minister: Omar Ahmed Alaswad
Economy Minister: Mustafa Abufanas
Religious Affairs Minister: Salem al-Sheikhi
Transport Minister: Abdulhafid al-Abar
Education Minister: Sulayman al-Sahli
Social Affairs Minister: Summaya Mahmoud
Justice Minister: Yousef Arbish
Health Minister: Feisal al-Kreikshi
Higher Education Minister: Naim al-Ghariani
Communications Minister: Ibrahim Jibril
Labour Ministry: Ahmed Safar
Oil & Gas Minister: al-Mabrouk Buhroura
Martyrs & Missing Persons Ministry: Sami al-Saadi
Rehabilitation & Development Ministry: Mustafa al-Saqazli
Mustafa Abushagour Proposes His Cabinet Number (2)
The Prime Minister's second attempt to form a government was more disappointing
than the previous attempt. This time his government contained only eleven ministries
(including the Foreign Ministry which the PM kept for himself, temporarily),
in what he called a "Mini Crisis Government" (حكومة أزمة مصغرة). The
PM had informed the GNC that the other missing ministries can function as
"boards" or "organisations" under the authority of the Deputy
Prime Minister.
The second government was rejected by the GNC, and the hunt for yet another
Prime Minister had began. The GNC will discuss tomorrow if the new PM should
be s-elected from within the GNC or from outside.
These are the proposed names of the rejected government:
Prime Minister & Foreign Minister (temporary): Mustafa Abushagour
Deputy Prime Minister: Al-Haramain Mohammed al-Haramain
Defence Ministry: Abdulsalam Salheen al-Abeidi
Interior Ministry: Ashour Sulayman Shwayel
Justice & National Reconciliation Ministry: Yousef Omar Khrebeish
Health Ministry: Ibrahim Omran Bhaih
Local Government Ministry: Mohammed al-Hashmi al-Harari
Finance & Economy Ministry: Ali Salem Mohammed al-Hibri
Education Ministry: Sulayman Ali al-Sahly
Housing & General Works Ministry: Salahaldin Nouraldin Shmela
Employment & Human Development Ministry: Ahmed al-Mabrouk Safar
14 October 2012:
GNC Government Number (2)
Dr. Ali Zidan (علي زيدان) won the presidency of the GNC during the first
round on the 9th of September 2012. Having lost the second round of voting
to Dr. Magarief, he has now returned as the transitional Prime Minister, after
he was s-elected by the GNC on the 14th of October 2012. Dr. Zidan had won 93
votes, against 85 votes won by Mohammad Harari. The third candidate,
Abdulhamid Alna'mi (عبد الحميد النعمي), did not secure the required approval
(التزكية) from the GNC; while Ibrahim Addabbashi (إبراهيم الدباشي) was excluded
by the Transparency & Nationalism Board. The transitional Prime Minister
is expected to announce his first cabinet on Monday the 29th of October 2012.
Ali Zidan Proposes His Cabinet Number (1)
29 October 2012: Solidarity Press said on Monday that the
GNC had postponed its "morning session", during which the PM is expected
to announce his government (presssolidarity.net/المؤتمر-الوطني-يؤجل-جلسته-المقرر-لعرض/).
The announcement is expected to be made during the afternoon session. The afternoon
announcement was also postponed, when the GNC announced that the new cabinet
will be unveiled on the following day Tuesday. It was reported that the delay
was due to the fact that around 28 GNC members are still in Saudi Arabia, eight
are in Canada, and 20 were stranded in Benghazi airport.
30 October 2012: Dr. Zidan proposes his government to the
GNC. The new cabinet includes 33 names (including that of Dr. Zidan). Only two
women are present in the list, namely the minister of tourism, Ikram Abdussalam
Imam, and the minister of social affairs, Kamila Khamis Almazini.
The GNC was reported to be considering whether to vote for the whole cabinet
or for individual ministers separately, with one source already stating some
sort of
"opposition" to four ministers. The voting was said will take place
this evening. The full list of the new cabinet is as follows:
Prime Minister: Ali Zidan
First Deputy Prime Minister: Assadiq Abdulkarim Abdulrahman Karim
Second Deputy Prime Minister: Awad Ebrik Ibrahim Albarasi
Third Deputy Prime Minister: Abdussalam Mohammad Almahdi Alqadi
Justice Minister: Salah Bashir Abbaj Merghni
International Cooperation Minister: Mohammad Imhammed Abdulaziz
The GNC's vote of confidence interrupted by protesters
30 October 2012: according to Solidarity Press , the GNC had granted its vote
of confidence for Dr. Ali Zidan's proposed government, with a number of reservations.
The reservations were passed by the GNC to the transitional prime minister Ali
Zidan and to the Transparency
& Nationalism Board. It was reported by Solidarity Press (presssolidarity.net/المؤتمر-يمنح-الثقة-للحكومة-و-يحيل-ملاح/)
that the reservations are related to the following ministers:
Religious Affairs minister
Foreign minister
Local Government minister
Interior minister
International Cooperation minister
Agriculture minister
Social Affairs minister
Culture minister
Tourism minister
Finance minister
Higher Education minister
Health minister
While according to the Libyan News Agency (lana-news.ly/ar/art.php?a=26970),
the GNC was still discussing its decision regarding four ministers when protesters
broke into the building and interrupted the discussion. But in a later statement
it said the GNC had postponed its decision as a result of the protest (lana-news.ly/ar/art.php?a=26981).
The four ministers in question are:
Foreign minister
Local Government minister
Oil Minister
Social Affairs minister
Protestors Broke Into The GNC Headquarters
Despite the previous attacks on the GNC, and in spite of the importance of
security in and around the GNC, the highest authority in Libya, the GNC is still
unable to provide basic security to its members. According to Solidarity Press
(presssolidarity.net/اقتحام-مقر-المؤتمر-الوطني-احتجاجاً-عل/), a number of protesters
broke into the GNC's headquarters, protesting against a number of ministers,
especially the Religious Affairs minister. And according to Reuters, "In
chaotic televised scenes, congress members negotiated with the protesters . .
. to leave. Voting then briefly resumed before being interrupted a second time,
leading congress leader Mohammed Magarief to announce the session was postponed
to Wednesday" (reuters.com/article/2012/10/30/libya-government-idUSL5E8LU49D20121030).
It is not known why the GNC cannot provide basic security against such attacks
on its headquarters, especially during such important sessions! The Libyan News
Agency LANA (lana-news.ly/ar/art.php?a=26979) said that the GNC was attacked
when its members were still discussing their vote of confidence for a number
of ministers, and that Dr. Magarief said that under such conditions the GNC cannot
perform its duty. Not being able to secure the whole of Libya may be excused
under such imposed circumstances, but not securing the GNC itself is a matter
only themselves they have to blame.
The GNC grants its "conditional" vote of confidence
31 October 2012:
The GNC has voted to approve the government proposed by the transitional Prime
Minister Ali Zidan. Only 105 members had voted in favour, with 9 members voting
against, 18 abstaining, and 68 members absentees. However the decision was
not conclusive, as six of the ministers have been referred to the Integrity Commission
because they were too close to the ousted regime. These ministers were reported
by Libyan media as follows:
Justice Minister Salah Bashir Abbaj Merghni
Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Suleiman Alawjli
Health Minister Nureddin Abdulhamid Dughman
Religious Affairs Minister Abdussalam Mohammed Abusaad
Interior Minister Ashour Suleiman Salih Shuwail
01 November 2012: according to Solidarity Press (presssolidarity.net/المقريف-حكومة-زيدان-منحت-الثقة-بشرط-تغ/),
Ala Magarief, a member of the GNC, had "hinted" that the
vote of confidence was granted on the condition to change some of the ministers
who previously held posts in Gaddafi's government, including:
Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Suleiman Alawjli
Agriculture Minister: Ahmed Eyyad Ali Alurfi
Religious Affairs Minister Abdussalam Mohammed Abusaad
International Cooperation Minister: Mohammad Emhammed Abdulaziz
13 November 2012:
According to the Integrity & Nationalism Commission's decisions 500, 501,
502 and 503 (of 2012), four ministers had failed to pass the integrity enquiry.
The commission has passed its decisions to the GNC for consideration, while it
said (via its Facebook page) it is still reviewing the files of other ministers.
The disapproved ministers are:
GNC's Affairs Minister: Muaezz Fathi Alkouja: السيد معز الخوجة،
وزير الدولة لشؤون المؤتمر الوطني العام
Higher Education Minister: Abdussalam Bashir Addwaybi: السيد عبدالسلام الذويبي،
وزير التعليم العالي
Electricity Minister: Ali Mohammed Mhirieq: السيد على محيريق، وزير
الكهرباء
Interior Minister: Ashour Suleiman Salih Shuwail: السيد عاشور شوايل،
وزير الداخلية
14 November 2012:
Ali Zidan's government sworn in: according to
the Prime Minister's Office, only 23 ministers were sworn in before the members
of the GNC from a total of 31. Zidan's list contains 32 members (excluding himself),
before the resignation of the Martyrs & Missing Minister Sami Mustafa Assaadi,
in a protest against Zidan's list which he said has failed to include "revolutionaries". The
missing nine names are as follows (as given by the PMO's website: pm.gov.ly/news/رئيس-وأعضاء-الحكومة-المؤقتة-المنتخبة-يؤدون-اليمين-القانونية.html):
Religious Affairs Minister: Abdussalam Mohammed Abusaad
Foreign Affairs Minister: Ali Suleiman Alawjli
Agriculture Minister: Ahmed Eyyad Ali Alurfi
Interior Minister: Ashour Suleiman Salih Shuwail
Social Affairs Minister: Kamila Khamis Abdullah Almazini
Electricity Minister: Ali Mohammed Mhirieq
GNC's Affairs Minister: Muaezz Fathi Alkouja
11 March 2014:
Prime Minister Ali Zidan Sacked
Libya's fourth transitional prime minister Ali Zidan has been sacked by the
GNC on the 11th of March 2014. It is thought that the sacking was in response
to the wide-spread public anger regarding the government's failure to stop the
North Korean oil tanker leaving Libyan territorial waters with its illegal oil
shipment. It is not understood how the tanker was allowed to enter Libya's waters
without permission nor why it was allowed to load hundreds of thousands of oil
barrels without being stopped; rising questions as to who really is running eastern
Libya: the federalists of Cyrenaica, or Tripoli's helpless ministers. On the
previous week the GNC itself was attacked by angry protesters who wreaked havoc
in the hall, stabbing and beating GNC members and smashing furniture and
equipment. The protesters blame the GNC for Zidan's government's failure. It
is not known how or why the GNC is left unprotected since it was elected in July
2012 despite the fact that it was attacked several times since.
11 March 2014:
Caretaker Prime Minister Abdullah Athini
The defence minister Abdullah Althni was appointed caretaker prime minister
for two weeks. The temporary assignment was later extended for a further two
weeks. In his first announcement he made in Ghat, southern Libya, he surprised
the Libyans by admitting terrorism does exist in Libya. Many Libyans found the
announcement "strange" because everyone knows terrorism has become
very popular in Libya. What the new prime minister failed to say is the identity
of the mystery terrorists and their foreign backers.
Some Libyans accuse certain parties and blocks within the (hijacked) GNC for
the terror activities designed to fail the government, while others blame Gaddafi's
loyalists who were encouraged by the West to defect and join the "rebel"
movement in Benghazi. Others however blame foreign "gladios" with the
intention to fail the government in order to pave the way for further foreign
intervention, such as guarding Libya's (made-porous) borders and chasing terrorists
into other peaceful states. Also there are those who believe the trouble in Libya
can only be blamed on the (hijacked) UN (and its military allies including some
Arab dictators) who destroyed Libya's infrastructure and sent the country back
to square one without an "exit strategy", and without
achieving the protection of civilians they claimed they had in mind. In summary,
there can be no solution without identifying the problem; dear prime ministers.
04 May 2014:
Libya's Sixth Prime Minister Elected Amidst Controversy
Mr. Ahmed Meitig (أحمد معيتيق) was appointed transitional prime minister in
a controversial vote by the GNC on the 4th of May 2014. This is the sixth transitional
prime minister the country had since Libya was thrown into turmoil in 2011.
The voting process began last week when two of the seven candidates for the
job were elected for the second round of voting. The GNC was unable to reach
the legal majority required by the continually-amended CD during the second round
of voting, which took place on the 29th of April 2014, apparently due to violence
erupting inside the GNC. The voting session was abandoned after armed men stormed
the GNC and began shooting in
the air, injuring two congressmen (according to another source).
Reportedly, the armed terrorists demanded the GNC to appoint one of the candidates
as prime minister, whose name was not revealed even by the spokesman of the GNC,
Mr. Hamidan, when he was asked by Libya.tv to name the person in question. The
session was closed and the GNC was evacuated, as usual, since both the GNC and
the Libyan Government seem reluctant to protect any of the government's buildings,
let alone any part of Libya. The gun has been used before to pass laws at the
GNC, for example, the controversial Isolation Law (that sent Magarief back to
internal exile) was said to have been passed by the gun.
Nonetheless, the second round of voting eventually took place on the 4th of
May 2014. The results are as follows:
Ahmed Meitig: 73 votes
Omar Alhassi: 43 votes
Spoilt votes: 36 votes
Unaccounted for votes: 48 (probably did not bother to turn up for work).
As none of the candidates were near the required minimum of 120, the GNC decided
to give a vote of confidence in favour of Ahmed Meitig, but even this only secured
113 votes - still 7 votes short of the legal requirement.
By now the atmosphere inside the GNC began to show signs of frustration and
chaos, leading the First Deputy President of the GNC, Mr.
Ezzedin Alawami, to end the session without reaching a final decision,
before leaving the congress.
The controversy comes from the next move, initiated by the Second Deputy President,
who re-opened the session and decided to continue with the vote of confidence.
The first thing they did was to call absent GNC members from their homes (those
who did not bother to turn up in the first place, even though they were elected
and paid to do so) in order to continue with the vote of confidence. By sheer
magic the GNC "declared" that a majority of 121 has been reached and
as a result Mr. Ahmed Meitig was declared prime minister (there and then amidst
the chaos) and was given two weeks to form his cabinet.
Was Mr. Meitig Elected Illegally?
By the evening, New Quryna (www.qurynanew.com/60946) reported
that the appointment of Mr. Meitig was declared void and illegal by the First
Deputy President of the GNC, Mr. Ezzedin Alawami.
In a document (apparently) signed by the First Deputy, Mr. Ezzedin instructs
the previous prime minister, Mr. Althni, to continue his duties as caretaker
prime minister because the number of votes gained by Mr. Meitig, namely 113
votes, is short of the legal requirement of 120 stipulated by the CD.
However, there is no sign of the above letter at the website of the PMO (as
of 6/5/2014), and instead one finds an announcement made by the spokesman of
the PMO, stating that the office has not made any official statement regarding
today's (4/5/2014) session at the GNC (www.pm.gov.ly/news/بيان-للناطق-الرسمي-للحكومة-المؤقتة-04-05-2014.html).
By the following day, the Prime Minister's Office's website (at pm.gov.ly) gives
no indication or news of the new prime minister, and in fact the website still
shows Mr. Althni as prime minister of the current government. This shows that
there is a big disagreement between the GNC and the PMO.
On the other hand, Solidarity Press stated that
the Second Deputy President of the GNC, Mr. Makhzoum, said the election of Mr.
Meitig is legal, and that the atmosphere inside the GNC was chaotic with GNC
members attacking each other (verbally and literally), apparently leading
them not to hear the announcement made by the First Deputy President.
This may be true, but it does not explain how he (Mr. Makhzoum) did not hear
the announcement having been sitting very close to the First Deputy!
Solidarity Press said the
new appointment of Mr. Meitig was welcomed by the Muslim
Brotherhood party, the Justice and Construction party (حزب العدالة والبناء).
In a press conference (two days later) Mr. Meitig reiterated his views by informing
the Libyan people that the election of the PM was invalid. The conflicting views
therefore are expressive of the charged atmosphere inside the deeply-divided
congress while illustrating who is really in charge.
According to Libyan social media, the unknown armed terrorists who attacked
the GNC during the earlier voting session (as noted above) demanded one of the
two candidates to be elected prime minister, whose name many sources are reluctant
to reveal, since liberated Libya is now more dangerous than the ousted dictatorship.
An indirect clue however can be found in some of the recent announcements made
by the Libyan media.
The problem with the GNC (and the PMO as well) is that they never arrest or
publish the names of the terrorists who need to be arrested and who continue
to violate Libya's sovereignty almost on daily basis; leading many Libyans to
suspect many government institutions' involvement in the orchestrated tragedy;
which made Libya, yet again, a new target for the danger it now constitutes to
the world's stability, of course.
5 May 2014
The GNC Decrees Mr. Meitig Prime Minister
Despite the controversies outlined above, the GNC has passed a decree to officially
appoint Mr. Ahmed Omar Meitig transitional prime minister. According to Decree
38/2014 the transitional prime minister has only fifteen days to assemble his
cabinet. The decree was passed on the 5th of May 2014 and effective from the date of publication.
The First Deputy President told Libya.tv he was not consulted about this decree;
while according to Libyan media the GNC president has no authority to issue
such decree, nor the power to issue any decision at all, as he is authorised
only to "sign" decrees
and laws once passed by the GNC.
In response to some claims made by some members of the GNC, Mr. Ezzedin Alawami
also confirmed that
according to Article 7 of the GNC's Internal Regulations he has the full legal
authority to announce commencement of sessions and ending of sessions among other
duties which he can perform in the absence of the president of the GNC. Moreover,
in a press conference a few days later, Mr. Ezzedin Alawami said he was surprised
by the president's decision to sign the decree because the president (Mr. Nuri
Abusahmain) supposed to be receiving medical treatment abroad, and hence the
reason the president did not attend the voting session. It would have been more
appropriate, he said, if the president (on his return) met with his two deputies
to discuss the matter before making such decision. A few days later, a number
of GNC members appeald against the decision.
In a 10-point open letter to the GNC the Libyan government (under the care
of PM Althni) called for a second prime ministerial vote and a suspension
of the GNC. In its ultimatum the PMO ordered the GNC to pass the 2014 budget
and then cease all its functions.
Surprisingly, the Libyan government said the GNC is yet to pass the 2014's
budget, despite the fact that nearly half of the year has passed. Solidarity
Press reported that Mr. Abdurrahman Ashather ( عبد الرحمن الشاطر ), a GNC member,
said that the GNC cannot issue a budget to a failed government that squandered
71 billion dinars without achieving anything, adding that the government had
failed to implement Decrees 27 and 53.
(presssolidarity.net/news/ONENEWS/65698/)
However, according to Libya Herald, caretaker Althni had managed to outmanoeuvre
the GNC twice; first when "he threatened to resign last month unless
given more power", and then when he "refused its request to
come up with a new government". "Angry at being
ignored, Congress then chose Maetig, but in controversial circumstances that
are now playing against it" (libyaherald.com/2014/05/19/al-thinni-tells-congress-to-go/).
25 May 2014:
The GNC Grants Vote of Confidence to Meitig's Government
منح المؤتمر الوطني العام الثقة لحكومة احمد عمر معيتيق
The GNC has granted its vote of confidence to Meitig's government. The announcement
was made in a session held on the 25th of May 2014. The session was attended
by only 93 members (out of 200), with 83 members voting in favour of Meitig's
government.
(واكد مراسل وكالة الانباء الليبية ان 83 عضوا صوتوا لصالح اعطاء الثقة لحكومة معيتيق
من اصل 93 عضوا حضروا الاجتماع)
(www.lana-news.ly/ara/news/view/52622/ ( المؤتمر الوطني العام يمنح الثقة لحكومة احمد عمر معيتيق )
The New government of 22 ministers was officially announced via Decree 40 of
2014. A copy of this decree was sent to caretaker Prime Minister Althni, together
with an official letter issued by the GNC instructing the PM to handover power
to the new prime minister. Althni refused to do so (see below).
The strange thing about the above ministerial list is that it does
not include neither a minister of defence nor of oil & gas - the most important
ministries of the current period!
29 May 2014:
Althni Refuses To Handover Power To Illegitimate Meitig's Government
الثني يرفض التسليم لعدم قانونية انتخاب
معيتيق
After receiving orders from the First Deputy President of the GNC instructing
him to stay in his position until a new PM is elected, and after it was reported
that the Ministry of Justice has declared Meitig's election "illegal",
caretaker PM Mr. Abdullah Althni refused to handover power to Meitig's illegitimate
government (www.qurynanew.com/61386). Also see the latest announcement
by the caretaker Prime Minister regarding the current confusion at: http://www.pm.gov.ly/news/
Apparently the GNC had instructed some of its members to meet with caretaker
Prime Minister Abdullah Athini before the approval of the government, to
discuss ways of reconciling the "two governments". The meeting took
place just before the vote of confidence took place (lana-news.ly/ara/news/view/52620/).
09 June 2014:
Libya's Supreme Court Declares Meitig's Government Unconstitutional
عدم دستورية انتخاب أحمد معيتيق رئيسًا للحكومة
The supreme court of Libya has decided today that the election of Mr.
Ahmed Meitig as a prime minister is not in accordance with the (temporary) Constitutional
Declaration, and therefore Decree 38/2014 is deemed unconstitutional. The decision
was made after a number of GNC members appealed against the election of Meitig.
The court held its first session on Thursday the 5th of May 2014. Today's verdict
was welcomed by many Libyans as a victory against corruption; with some
arguing if all other decisions passed after the 7th of February 2014 can also
be challenged. The 7th of February is day the life span of the
GNC came to an end.
09 June 2014:
Current PM: Caretaker Prime Minister Abdullah Athini
Today's decision by Libya's Supreme Court ought to be respected by all Libyans.
Both the second deputy president of the GNC and GNC-elected Ahmed Meitig announced
their compliance with the ruling. This means that the current prime minister
is Mr. Abdullah Althni.
Conclusion: Total Failure:
Immediately after the UN's bombing campaign of Libya came
to a sudden end, many local and foreign groups were left to take advantage
of the created political vacuum and began forming political parties and even
military brigades, while the traumatised Libyan civilians were left blasting
each other in the background (without any kind of protection). This seemed
bizarre at the time, leading many Libyans to organise the first ever protest
against the installed NTC; but unfortunately, the world's media then was too-busy
propounding the Libya democratic success, just as they proclaimed the liberation
of demolished Iraq ten years earlier. The reports of some NFZ countries arming
radical militias in Libya were ignored.
The next step for the installed NTC was to quickly push for
the election of the GNC, while barring the
Berbers from party elections. The reason for this democratic violation, according
to one analyst from the SOAS, is that the Islamist parties were worried the
Berbers would not vote for them and thus would fail to gain the majority they
planned to "get" at the GNC.
It became clear a few months later that the GNC
was widely reported to be dominated by Islamist parties; and even some individual members (independents) of
the GNC were later reported to have been secretly allied to Islamist parties.
Rather than work together as one united congress, GNC members began forming political
blocs within the GNC; the two most powerful of which, according to the Huffington Post, are the "Muslim
Brotherhood" and the Islamist "Loyalty to Martyrs" blocs,
who went on to dominate the GNC, and, according to the same source [1] and other sources in Libya, even passed
the controversial Political Isolation Law by the gun [1].
Thus, contrary to the reports propounded by the world's media
(in that unlike Egypt the Libyan 7/7 elections were not dominated by Islamists),
the failed GNC was indeed controlled by Islamist parties. [1]: www.huffingtonpost.com/sasha-toperich/libya-the-muslim-brotherhoods-last-stand_b_5618001.html]
The GNC President Reveals How The UN Imposed The
Prisedency Council (PC)
18 February 2018:
لقاء خاص مع رئيس المؤتمر الوطني العام نوري أبوسهمين
GNC President, Mr. Nuri Abusahmain, reveals how the UN (via
Mr. Leon) imposed its PC
without consultation
with the GNC (at minute 13:48 of the video). He also speaks of how he and other
GNC members were arming terror groups in Benghazi whom he called "revolutionary"
groups fighting Haftar.
The Story of The GNC And The Islamic Bloc
26 January 2018:
برنامج مقابلة مع مالك الشاردة يستضيف فيه نائب رئيس المؤتمر الوطني السابق الدكتور عز الدين العوامي
The End of GNC's Legitimacy
07 February 2014:
The life span of the GNC came to an end on the 7th of February 2014. The GNC
came under wide criticism from Libyans all over the country for failing to implement
any of the objectives it was elected to supervise. Instead the GNC members
agreed among themselves to extend their term in office until the 24th of December
2014. Protesters took to the
streets demanding the departure of the GNC, with many Libyans
believing the NTC and the GNC were
designed to
fail, and rightly feared their failure may ultimately drag the country
into civil war.
On the 14th of February 2014 General Khalifa
Haftar announced what the media called a military coup,
even though Haftar himself, according to Solidarity Press, does not consider
the announcement a "coup", but an initiative to "correct" the
path of the "revolution". People only need to look at the
orchestrated disaster in nearby Egypt to grasp the full implications of correcting
revolutions?
According
to Alarabiya channel General Haftar had suspended the GNC, the transitional government
and the Constitutional Declaration, adding that "his
forces" were
in Tripoli at the time; but according to prime minister Ali Zidan the revelations
are "laughable", with the situation under control -
meaning that the country still is plighted with clashes, assassinations
and terror atrocities with no authority being able to "protect
the civilians" the country was initially destroyed for.
On the following day
many demoralised demonstrators took to the streets of devastated Benghazi
in support of Haftar's initiative, in which he urged the Libyan people to rally
around his call to rescue
the country from what he called "the criminals", as he called
for activating the army, the police and the judicial system to implement law
and order. The GNC shortly afterwards decided to replace itself with an elected
body called the House of Representatives (HoR).
GNC President Resigns
28 May 2013:
The full speech (by
Libya.tv)
Libya's acting president and head of the Libyan General
National Congress, Dr. Mohammad Yousef Almagarief,
has announced his resignation on the 28th of May 2013 – just over 9 months
after he was elected on the 9th of August
2012. Passing the controversial
Isolation Law in its present form - without any amendment or due consideration
for such sacrifices endured by the early revolutionaries of Libya - is cruel
and plain wrong. The president appeared deeply affected by the current
tragedy, but also optimistic Libya will return.
The revolutionary president had resigned because he wanted to be the first
to implement the unfair law; just as he was among the first to
stand up to Gaddafi's regime some 30 years ago - when Gaddafi demolished his
home in Benghazi in 1984. As shown above and elsewhere in this website
the president spoke highly of all ethnic and marginalised groups
of Libya, as he was the only high official in free Libya, so far, to openly declare
his support for the Berbers' constitutional rights! He
has also stressed the need for national reconciliation.
It seems that
pressure is mounting beyond expectation, leading to a number of
ministers and local council presidents resigning ever since liberation was prematurely
celebrated (by some). Brandishing weapons of violence against the law
and intimidating officials and assassinating others has nothing to do with revolution.
The president said he had "exhausted
his energy" to the full; stressing the fact that his voice only counts as
"one". In his speech to the members of the GNC, Dr. Magerief started
by outlining four issues that require urgent attention in order to steer Libya
away from "square
one".
The four issues pointed out by the president are summarised as follows:
Legitimacy: the legitimacy of the elected
government is the highest authority in Libya and should and ought to have been
respected above all.
The Revolution & The Revolutionaries: the
president warned that the principles of the revolution may stay the same, but
its tools must change in accordance with the goals of the revolution and the
legitimate law. Using arms to negotiate or force solutions contradicts the
pillars of democracy, he said. He has also noted the most important of all issues
currently facing Libya, which is the existence of armed groups operating outside
the law, which he has "estimated at tens of thousands".
In addition to such groups, the president spoke about other revolutionary groups, who
are among the "true
revolutionaries"
but somehow declared their allegiance to partisanship instead.
Political Parties & Partisanship: regarding
political parties, the president warned that party goals or objectives should
not come before the benefit (or interest) of Libya itself. He also noted the
need to "politicise" the
administration, and protect Libya's robbed funds from being diverted out of the
country.
The Media & Its Role: without a doubt, the
president said, the media had played an important role during the revolution;
but after the revolution had ended some media groups and independents deviated
from their course, in the name of free speech, and began their disinformation
campaigns to confuse the Libyans and create a state of instability, according
to the wishes and the goals of other (unnamed) groups; leading to many Libyans,
the president said, to
withdraw themselves away from the political dialogue taking place.
Following these issues, the president had some recommendations to the current
transitional government of Prime Minister Ali Zidan, including:
The government needs to acknowledge that its mission is temporary.
Implement Security.
Control the arms circulating in Libya.
Improve the standard of living, especially of the poor.
Youth education and training and facilitating marriage.
Develop women's rights and issues to the best.
Tackle drugs.
Put a stop to health deterioration and environmental degradation.
Fight financial corruption and its associated issues, which he says are
infesting the society from within.
Administration improvements.
National Reconciliation, which he says is the most important issue the Libyans
and the government need to address to steer away from "square one".
He also advised people to think before "acting", and make
sure they do not end up "pawns" on others' chessboard.
GNC Approves The "Political & Administrative
Isolation Law"
05 May 2013:
The GNC had finally approved the long-awaited isolation law on Sunday the
5th of May, with 164 members in favour, 4 abstentions, and 19 absentees
(6 of whom had provided the reason for not attending). The approved law was
titled: Law 13 of 2013 Regarding The Political & Administrative Isolation.
The copy of the law provided by the GNC in its website was dated to
the 8th of May 2013. The law will become effective after 30 days from publication
date (8/5/2013).
Source: gnc.gov.ly/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=425:2013-05-05-21-57-36&catid=1:2012-08-09-13-20-21&Itemid=12 .
Law 13 had attracted wide criticism from various sources
including from some GNC members. For example, Ala Magarief, a GNC
member, told Solidarity Press that the law is unfair to many Libyans who campaigned
against Gaddafi's regime for over 30 years. Solidarity Press said the
Second Deputy President of the GNC said the law will not isolate those "old" Libyan
opposition figures nor those who had defected to join the people against Gaddafi.
On the other hand, most analysts say many members of the elected Libyan congress,
ministers, party leaders, and employees of the various departments of the transitional
government will have to go, as a result of Law 13.
Many critics, revolutionaries
and federalists from Benghazi said the law was approved by "the
gun",
in reference to the previous breaches of security at, and the attacks on, the
GNC and other government institutions by mystery armed groups,
the identity of whom is not known, and whom government officials once
again failed to name. New Quryna [qurynanew.com/52173] reported that the CTC
(the newly self-declared federal region in Cyrenaica) will reject any law passed
by the "gun".
The fact that the GNC took a long time to study, discuss and draft the final
copy of the law, only to approved it as it is, without any modifications,
is "conspicuous", some say. The
creation of hundreds of political parties and the quickly-effected 7/7
elections, while most Libyans were left shelling each other's homes, is
also conspicuous. Why
leave such important government buildings unprotected and prone to humiliation
and gunfire, and even occupy the GNC for a whole month? Unable to provide security
for the whole of Libya is a bigger consequence, no doubt, but not
providing security for the GNC itself is "quite an event".
Was Law 13 Tampered-With After It Was Passed By The
GNC?
On Sunday the 19th of May 2013, the NFA announced that the law voted
for by the GNC members was different from the law that was passed afterwards,
and that 18 Articles of the released document were "forged" or changed
after the law was voted for. The NFA released some details
regarding these changes, and were published in their facebook page: facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=490101001063886&set=a.490100954397224.1073741863.297661583641163&type=1&permPage=1
The NFA also called for an "investigation" into the changes
added or omitted from the draft Isolation law after it was voted for by the
GNC, and said it will take legal action if the GNC
does not clarify the issue within 48 hours: facebook.com/photo.php?v=512634885452677&set=vb.297661583641163&type=2&theater.
GNC Members & President Attacked
05 March 2013:
GNC
members, temporarily meeting at the meteorological institute in the capital,
were surrounded by around 600 armed protesters and held hostage for long hours,
in an attempt to force the GNC to vote over, and possibly pass, the "isolation
law". Juma Sayah, an independent GNC member from Nasiriyah, was reportedly
hit on the head as he attempted to escape (Libya Herald, article: /2013/03/06/gnc-members-held-hostage-by-armed-demonstrators-one-member-hit-on-the-head/).
The armoured vehicle, carrying the Head of the General National
Congress out of the institute, was also attacked and, according to Libya Herald, "came
under a fusillade of gunfire from both sides as well as head on" (Libya Herald, article: /2013/03/06/magariefs-vehicle-swap-at-gnc-backfired/).
Although the tyres of the bullet-riddled vehicle were shredded by gunfire, the
president's driver was reported to have kept the Toyota moving and managed to
lead the president to "safety" (in Free Libya). For
a photo of the damaged vehicle, see (guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/07/libyan-national-congress-rogue-militias).
Like many other reports, the attackers are most often
"unknown", and the president's guards were said to have failed to return
fire; leaving the Libyans once more to conjure unconventional explanations, rejected
by the ruling party as no more than conspiracy or fitna. The head of
the GNC said, according to Libya TV, that a senior member of the GNC had put
a gun to his head (or his face) during the latest attack at the meteorological
institute, without naming the offender. While according to LANA
the head of the GNC said, had it not been for divine intervention and
the members' self-control, the GNC meeting would have turned to a blood
bath
(lana-news.ly/ara/news/view/16311/).
GNC Vacated of Protesters
02 March 2013:
On 5th of February
2013 protesters forcibly made their way through congress security and occupied
the GNC. One month later, the protesters still inside the GNC, with the government
saying it has no authority or power to protect Libya's most important
building – the seat of Libya's sovereignty. However, the protesters were reported
to have been evicted on the 2nd of March 2013, in an operation that has left
three security officers injured. Officials say their security personnel were
fired-at despite them not using any force during the operation. This the GNC
said had resulted in withdrawing their personnel to outside the General
National Congress for safety reasons and to avoid bloodshed; while leaving the
armed protesters inside the building:
[lana-news.ly/ara/news/view/15729/إصابة_ثلاثة_عناصر_أمن_خلال_محاولتهم_إخلاء_مقر_المؤتمر_الوطني_العام_من_الجرحى_المعتصمين_داخله].
It was not until the 5th of March 2013 that the GNC was finally vacated.
The eviction operation does not appear to have gone according to plan, as Tripoli's
Security Manager, Col. Mahmoud Asharif, told
reporters that three security officers were injured, and that it was the
protesters who started throwing the contents of the hall at the security forces,
before it developed to one firing his pistol and throwing gelatin-made grenade.
The security manager continues (according to LANA)
that the operation details appear to have been leaked, as this incident was followed
by an another armed-group storming the hall and shooting at government security
forces, leading to the reported injuries (including one seriously injured). Despite
all this, the Security Manager said the the government refused to use force to
evacuate the congress; without saying how the armed group was dealt with or how
the shooting came to an end.
The President of The GNC's Assassination Attempt
03/04/05 January 2013:
Sabha:
according to Libya For The Free, Dr. Magarief has
escaped an assassination attempt on Saturday. Dr. Magarief told reporters that
armed men had attacked the hotel he was staying in, in Sabha, and that the firing
lasted for three hours, in which 3 of his bodyguards were injured (libya.tv/en/magarief-assassination-attempt-fails-in-sabha/).
According to Reuters, Dr. Magarief's residence in Sabha "came
under gunfire on Thursday evening" (reuters.com/article/2013/01/06/us-libya-parliament-attack-idUSBRE90507U20130106).
While according to Libya Herald, the Defence Ministry's spokesperson, Colonel
Adel Albarasi, believes the shooting did not target Dr. Magarief, but was
an armed clash between two local tribes (Libya Herald, article: /2013/01/06/reports-emerge-of-magarief-assassination-attempt-in-sebha/).
Sabha was in fact suffering from violent clashes between a number of tribes at
the time of the president's visit.
The reports provided above do not seem to agree on the day the assassination
attempt supposedly to have taken place: Reuters said "Thursday", Wikipedia
thinks it was "Friday", and Libya TV said "Saturday". Solidarity
Press however, who also said "Friday", had reported the incident rather
differently: it said that Fezzan Hotel came under a "random shooting" by
unknown assailants, and that two "commandos" (قوات الصاعقة) died in
the attack. It also said that the president of the GNC was said to have been
staying at the hotel at the time of the random shooting (presssolidarity.net/مصدر-أمني-فندق-الفزان-يتعرض-لإطلاق-الن/). Shortly
afterwards, the GNC agreed to establish a Special Security Force to protect the
GNC and its members.
Transitional Prime Minister reveals a "power
that is higher than the Government" of Libya, but refuses to name
Speaking to the newly-elected members of the GNC regarding defence matters,
the PM said there is "a higher authority" that had prevented his government
from implementing some of their "decisions".
When he attempted to continue,
the President of Libya, Dr. Magarief, asked him: "who
is this power?"
The PM pushed the microphone away,
then turned towards the microphone and said: "a
power that is higher than the government".
From the principle of "transparency" the President of Libya politely
requested from him, again, to name this "authority": "please
name this power".
But the PM dismissed the President's request by repeating: "it is
the power that is higher than the government".
The President kindly
replied: "thayeb" ('Okay')!
Libya's Acting President Keeps Same Distance From
All Parties
11 August 2012:
The president of the GNC has suggested that the proceedings of the GNC should
be transmitted live. In a gesture to exercise authority and keep the house united,
the president promised he would keep the same distance from all parties; and
that he will stay away from all "political",
"regional"
and "tribal" considerations. The president has called for "dialogue"
with all the political forces and civil society components including those not
represented in the General National Congress. What is important is to improve
consultation and exchange of opinion to reach the shared beliefs that serve the
best interests of the nation, the president said. He was also reported
to have said that the new government may including ministers from the previous
transitional government.
The GNC Suspends Its Sessions Until The 23rd of
August 2012
10 August 2012:
The conference has decided to postpone the selection of the General National
Secretary and the Spokesman for the GNC until the release of the internal regulatory
laws of the conference.
The National Congress has selected a committee to develop an internal
list to organise the sessions and the work of the GNC.
The National Congress has decided to suspend its work until the twenty-third
of August 2012.
Qanat Libya Alwathaniya
25 August 2012:
The GNC has decided on the 25th of August that "Libya Alwathaniya" (National
Libya) will be the official channel chosen to transmit live proceedings of the
GNC. قرر المؤتمر الوطني العام أن تكون قناة ( ليبيا الوطنية ) الناقل الرسمي
والحصري " نقلاً مياشر اً " لجلسات المؤتمر
The GNC Condemns The Attacks on Libya's Heritage
26 August 2012:
The GNC condemned the attacks on the shrines and mosques of Zliten and Tripoli;
and recalled the ministers of Defence and Interior for questioning over the way
they handled the desecration of the mosques. The Interior Minister Fawzi Abdela'al
resigned on the 26th of August, but later he withdrew his resignation request.
Media reports say the attacks were said to have been authorised by the Ministry
of Interior, and that security officials and police stood watching and even blocked
the roads while the bulldozer was demolishing the mosque in Tripoli. Dr.
Mohammad Yousef Almagarief, said that those responsible “are unfortunately
aligned with some in the Supreme Security Committee and some ex-revolutionaries”
(Libya Herald, article: /?p=13237). Please
click here to download the statement of the GNC.
During the rule of the NTC, the council was "urging" people to respect the
law. This appears to have evolved to become "condemn" during
the transitional rule of the GNC, as respect of the law is now well beyond.
The elected government appears to have been resigned to watch destruction
and terror events establish foothold.
Libya's Acting President acknowledges the Berbers and their prominent personalities and martyrs
The President of Libya wearing Tamazight flag. Photo source: facebook.com/LibyanAmazigh101
There is no difference between the Imazighen and the Arabs,
or between the Tuareg and the Tebu, the president noted. In his call for unity,
the honourable president invited all Libyans to remember the injustices we all
endured under the previous, oppressive regime; and as one
"united family" the president calls for all Berbers, Tebu
and Arabs to get to know each other, away from separatism, regionalism and tribalism.
However, despite the claims perpetuated by the media and by some Libyan officials
and many Libyans, the Berbers have no separatist or tribal tendencies, as their
demands are mainly equal constitutional rights on the basis of being Libyans;
in as much as federalism (or regionalism) does not mean 'dividing the country',
since Cyrenaicans' demands are mainly related to equal share of power under the
central Authority of United Libya.
Criticism
Criticism
Isolation Law
06 March 2013:
A day after the GNC was vacated of the war amputees, a decision was made by
the GNC to meet at the Meteorological Institute in Crimea district,
Tripoli. Like before,
the GNC seems to have no security to protect its congress and members, despite
the formation of a special security force to protect the GNC.
Expectedly, the meeting at the meteorological institute was attacked by a group
of armed protesters, around 600 of them, holding the GNC members "hostages"
inside the institute, until they vote on the isolation law, reporters said (Libya Herald, article: /2013/03/06/magariefs-vehicle-swap-at-gnc-backfired/ ;
Libya Herald, article: /2013/03/06/gnc-members-held-hostage-by-armed-demonstrators-one-member-hit-on-the-head/).
Many Libyans
say the GNC appears reluctant to pass the law. The evidence for this, the Libyans
say, is that protesters are repeatedly allowed easy access, without any kind
of resistance, to break into such important buildings like the GNC
- the seat of the elected government. In fact on the same day the GNC was vacated,
the Prime Minister's Office was occupied by another group of protesters.
Many officials say the isolation law needs
to be re-drafted to exempt all those who did not committ
any wrong doing when Gaddafi was in charge, as well as those who defected during
the early weeks of the uprising. Any one defected after
the bombs fell, some say, must be isolated and prevented from taking part in
the new government. Others however say only those who built the courage to abandon
Gaddafi's
regime while Gaddafi was still in power, like Dr. Magarief for example, should
be exempted.
Segregating Libyans into two groups, such as "revolutionaries"
and "loyalists", is a dangerous trend Libya should avoid at all costs,
and instead the Libyans need to learn to live as one people before the same law.
Anyone committed any crimes against the Libyans during Gaddafi's government or
now or at any other time must be faced with the evidence before the court of
law in a civilised manner. All militias (official and otherwise) should be disbanded
and replaced by
"one
unified army". The longer this continues, the Libyans
say, the more difficult it becomes for Libya to be saved.
Was The President of The GNC Legally Voted?
30 August 2012:
According to (alwatan-libya.com/more-23797-1-جبريل:), Mahmoud Jibril
had said on Thursday (30th of August 2012) that the GNC had acted against the
regulations stipulated by the Constitutional Declaration (CD) regarding the election
of the president of the GNC because the second round of voting
violates the CD, which stated that the election of the president should be completed
in one session:
وإتهم جبريل المؤتمر الوطنى بمخالفة الاعلان الدستوري بشأن اختيار رئيس المؤتمر
قائلا الجولة الثانية لإنتخاب رئيس المؤتمر الوطنى كان مخالفا للاعلان الدستورى
لأن الإعلان الدستورى ينص على ان تكون جلسة واحد للإنتخاب والفائز بأكبر عدد من
المقاعد هو من يتولى رئاسة المؤتمر
To follow Jibril's statement, one must refer to the CD for
confirmation:
Article (30), Constitutional Declaration, 03 August 2011.
What it says in English is that: the NTC will be dissolved in the first
session of the general national congress (or conference), and the oldest member
shall assume the presidency of the session, and its youngest member the secretary
of the session. During this session the president and the
vice-presidents of the general national congress will be elected via secret
balloting by relative majority; and the transitional government
shall continue to run its affairs until the formation of a temporary [or interim]
government.
However the Constitutional Amendment (1) of Year 2012 to Article (30) of the
CD, published on the 13th of March 2012, has removed the phrase "relative
majority", and instead added a new line to the end of the above paragraph,
as follows:
Constitutional Amendment (1) of Article (30), published
on the 13th of March 2012.
The new added sentence states that "And in all cases all
decisions shall be taken by a majority of two-thirds".
This means that conducting a second round of voting during the second session
of the congress does seem to violate both the Constitutional Declaration and
its First Amendment. The obvious reason for this may well be the fact that no
two-thirds majority was reached in the first round (since Ali Zidan secured only
80 seats out of 200), and thus Reuters reported
that: "Voting went to a second round after no one managed to win
an outright majority in the first" (reuters.com/article/2012/08/10/libya-assembly-idUSL6E8J9IGA20120810).
But this is inaccurate, since the phrase "outright majority" is
not what the CD's amendment says. The CD Amendment (1) says: "and in
all cases all decisions shall be taken by a majority of two-thirds";
which means that no one had reached the two-thirds majority in neither rounds.
Two-thirds of 200 is 133, which is more than what the president had achieved
in the second round, namely 113 votes, and therefore both rounds are short of
the legal requirement according to the first amendment of the
CD.
It was reported that the extra votes gained by Dr. Almagarief in the second
round came from the votes that went to Abdurrahman Asewehli in the previous round,
and therefore ending the session before electing the president may have allowed
the time for the two parties to negotiate joining forces against the Independent
Ali Zidan.
On the following day, that is on the 31st
of August 2012, Solidarity Press
announced that according to a source from the GNC the congress had amended Article
(30) of the Constitutional Declaration so that the congress' legislations will
be approved by a majority of 120 members:
قال مصدر مطلع من المؤتمر الوطني أن المؤتمر أجرى تعديلا على المادة 30 من الإعلان
الدستوري يقضي بأن تشريعات المؤتمر الوطني العام تصدر بأغلبية 120 عضوا
(presssolidarity.net/إجراء-تعديل-على-المادة-30-من-الإعلان-الد/ )
GNC Members
The GNC's website does not have a list of the 120
independent members. Four months later and still there is no sign
of the list. The website however does have a link to a "members"
webpage, but clicking on the link returns the visitor to the home page instead:
gnc.gov.ly/en/.
The NTC had
a similar issue in the past. A year later, many Libyans and Libyan news agencies
began openly to speak of many GNC members turning out to be undercover party
members.
As of September 2012, the website of the NFA (nff.ly/Tahalof_AboutUs.aspx)
still does not list the parties allegedly forming the NFA itself. Mahmoud Jibril's
followers at Facebook asked about the list, but apparently a technical glitch
in the database was to blame. In their "About Us" webpage, the coalition
said:
الأحزاب والمنظمات والتيارات والجمعيات والشّخصيات الموقّعة على هذا الميثاق
: 'the parties, organisations, movements, associations and the dignitaries that
signed this charter',
but clicking on the link to the charter,
one does not find a single signature. Wikipedia says
the coalition "includes 58 political organizations",
236 NGOs, and more than "280 independents",
without naming a single one. When clicking on the reference provided by Wikipedia
(for its source), the reader is transported
to a page that now automatically redirects to Libya Herald's home page. The whole
point of a website is to provide information about the coalition which the Libyans
voted for, seemingly without knowing anything about the members of the coalition.
Who is running Libya? The Government or the criminals?
27 August 2012:
protesters met outside the headquarters of the GNC in the capital Tripoli,
condemning the recent explosion of violence and terror activities in free Libya,
the use of force to manipulate political objectives, and the vandalism
of Libya's heritage; as well as demanding urgent action from the elected
government of Libya to protect the Libyans and Libya's heritage.
Among
the protesters were representatives from various organisations including
the LFJL, which noted that the recent attacks in Derna, Misrata, Zliten and
Tripoli "underline
the importance of guaranteeing freedom of religion and expression in the new
Libya, and the protection of its heritage and its historical sites" (libyanjustice.org/news/news/post/36-lfjl-strongly-condemns-recent-attacks-of-religious-shrines-in-libya-/).
In
a letter to the GNC, signed by over 10 civil society organisations including
LFJL, they wrote: “This is the moment for the GNC to define itself
and its authority. No action will mean that the power in the country is not with
our democratically elected representatives but with unknown forces." The
Prime Minister el-Keib did in in fact confirm to the GNC the existence of
an authority higher than his government (see GNC News link, above)!
The
following is a summary of the demands listed in the letter:
Implementing immediate security at the damaged sites
and in all remaining vulnerable sites in Libya.
Protection of Libyans seeking to protest and express their
legal right to demonstrate.
Issue a public statement condemning
the criminal attacks.
Ensure the protection of those seeking to report the events
in Libya.
Investigate officials responsible for security
and protection of sites.
The Letter of The President of The Amazigh World
Congress To The GNC
11 August 2012:
The president of the World Amazigh Congress, Fathi N Khlifa, wrote a letter
to the president of the Libyan General National Congress regarding the human
rights violation committed by a member of the Libyan embassy in America against
the Libyan citizen Mohammed Albakkoush and his sons: Aksel and Massinissa. Apparently
the embassy refused to issue Libyan passports for his sons because they do not
carry Arab names. Both Aksel and Massinessa are Tamazight names, previously banned
by Gaddafi's regime. The ban on Berber names was lifted a number of times during
the last decade, but now it seems the ban is still effective. Will the GNC issue
a law informing the Libyans that the Berbers can and have the right to name their
children with Tamazight names?
Women's Liberty at the General National Congress
09 August 2012:
Photo source: qurynanew.com/40025
The GNC began with a small incident, when Sarah Elmesallati, the young lady
who was presenting the event, was ordered by one of the congressmen to cover
her head. She ignored his order and continued to perform her duty. In a statement
to Libya Herald, Sarah Elmesallati said: “After that, an assistant of Jalil
came up to me and said ‘please, I’m asking you as a daughter, can you please
stop’. I begged him to let me continue, but when I walked back on stage, Jalil
caught my eye, pointed at me, and signalled for me to go away, so I did”.
In an indirect statement, the chairman of the NTC said individuals' freedom
is respected in Libya, but the Libyans need to understand that Libya is a Muslim
country. One member of the HNEC told reporters that women can choose not to wear
the headscarf if they choose to - an opinion shared by most Libyans. New Quryna
said Sarah Elmesallati was in tears after she left the [free] stage (أنا كنت
أبكي وراء المسرح لأن الموقف كان صعبا للغاية).
