PoliticsLibya: Parliamentary elections: "Fully free"?

One of the newsletters I receive carries word of the Libyan parliamentary election.  It is so fully informative I followed the email newsletter's link to find the associated webs+t Peter Clifford Online which carries this subtitle:  "Human R+ts, Democracy, Freedom, Equality, Justice."   The heading of today's offering (the offerings are not daily, and this one is packed with items covering Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain and the Gulf States).  The whole set of items is headed "Fledgeling democracies take first tottering steps," referring especially to Libya and Tunisia.  I recommend it to you in its entirety.

The case in Libya is a very mixed one, somewhat akin to Egypt's where, as Clifford and his sources report, the Muslim Brotherhood as of today is leading in the voting results.  It's doubtful that non-Islamicist constituencies will prevail in the parliamentary contest.  There were also some horrendous episodes in the first-t+m balloting.  Nevertheless, I also rejoice with Clifford in the post-dictator elections which he headlines headlines as "fully free" (altho "fully" shoud be modified since the severity of the incidents indicates that Libya's free elections were less than "fully" free).  To the info below, The National adds:

The High National Election Commission announced that 100 out of 1554 polling stations did not open due to acts of vandalism, especially in the east of the country, in protest against the election and distribution of seats in the national assembly.

 In any case, democracy has taken root, however the roots may be tenuous, even fragile.  There is no new dictator on the horizon, certainly not a terrorist dictator l+k Gaddafi.  It all goes to show that democracy is no panacea.  Indeed, a democracy where the majority disenfranchizes minorities and their interests, where the majority resists pluralism in representation, is a "democracy" hardly worth the name.

— Politicarp, refWrite Frontpage politics columnist

Libya holds first fully free parliamentary elections since 1952 with huge female participation


Peter Clifford Online (July8,2k12)
— text and images with captions reposted here by Politicarp

Congratulations to Libya on holding yesterday its first fully free parliamentary election since 1952.

Democracy in Libya – “I voted!”

Turnout was thought to be around 60% and notable for the large number of women who were voting for the first time.

At some polling stations women easily out-numbered men.

The election will select a 200 member General National Congress (GNC) from the 2,600 individual candidates and 400 political organisations who stood in the poll.

The most significant party to emerge so far is the Justice and Construction Party, consisting mainly of members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The GNC when elected will pick a prime minister and cabinet. The GNC was also meant to choose 60 members to make up a committee to write a new Libyan constitution which will be voted on in a referendum next year, but the National Transitional Council (NTC), which will stand down as soon as a new government has been formed, has said the the constitutional committee will now be the subject of a separate national vote.

However, as elsewhere in the “Arab Spring” revolutions, the transition to the democratic process continues to be very rocky.

Federalists Burning Election Materials – cnn.com

In Libya, especially in the east around Benghazi, some polling stations were burnt to the ground or election material and voting papers destroyed and a helicopter carrying elections workers was shot at with heavy calibre bullets on Friday killing one of the occupants and forcing the aircraft to make an emergency landing.

Armed groups opposed to the election and wanting autonomy for oil-rich eastern Libya, also surrounded and closed the oil refineries at Ras Lanouf, Brega and Ajdabiya. In a separate incident another person was killed near a polling station in Ajdabiya.

In the current election of the 200 available seats, in a system devised by the NTC, the west of Libya will have 100, 40 will come from the south and 60 from the east. Many from the east think that the parliament will therefore be too “Tripoli orientated”, a sentiment which many in Benghazi province shared under Gaddafi as well. The BBC has a video report of the election, HERE: 

Hopes for an effective and solid democracy in Libya also remain on shaky ground with the recent detention for 26 days of International Criminal Court (ICC) defence lawyers for Saif Gaddafi and their leading counsel, Melinda Taylor’s assertion since her release that it will be impossible for Saif to get a fair trial in Libya. You can see a video of her statement,HERE:

Democracy in Libya – “I voted too!”

Further worries for Libya’s progress are the huge tribal divisions and rivalries that still exist throughout the country, in some cases relating to disputes over killings or land that go back generations.

Two weeks ago, more than 100 people were killed following a clash between the Zintani and Mishasha tribes around the desert town of Misdah, both sides using weapons obtained from the former Gaddafi military. (Further background, HERE:)