Libya’s election So far, so hopeful: The Economist
Though much could still go wrong, the case for Western intervention is being vindicated.
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/Libya-s-electio...
The Economist points out that those who were opposed to Western intervention in Libya to oust Gaddafi said that Western meddling would come to no good and that "Arabs don't do democracy" and islamists would take power and refuse to give it up and secular elements would loose.
Infact Libya has not gone the way of Irag and Afghanistan where western intervention has had negative results. Doubters point events in Egypt and Syria but Libya has avoided the worst disruption despite milita and tribal violence. The Economist says that the Arab world must be allowed the chance to disprove the prejudices against it. There is no Arab country where democracy is completely secure but Libya is amongst those which is doing better than others.
The 7 July vote in Libya took place against the backdrop of over 40 years of Gadaffi's dictatorship which denied any freedom of expression which gave no prior experience of the democratic process or how to organise elections. Tolerance and pluralism will take time to be accepted.
In the central Tripoli electoral district, the National Forces Alliance (NFA) had a nearly ten-fold advantage over the
Muslim Brotherhood's Justice and Construction Party (JCP) in voting for seats reserved for parties in the national congress, AFP reported.
The NFA scored 46,225 votes compared with the JCP's modest 4,774. The remainder of the eight constituencies in Tripoli voted along similar lines with the exception of Hay Al-Andalus, where the NFA did not field candidates.
Thursday's electoral commission figures, combined with earlier results from the eastern city of Benghazi, cradle of the revolt that ousted Moamer Gadaffi last year, give Jibril's coalition a massive lead among the seats reserved for parties.Libyan voters in the capital opted overwhelmingly in favour of a liberal coalition led by wartime premier Mahmud Jibril which also trounced other parties in the east, partial tallies showed on Thursday.
The fall of the Gaddafi regime left a power vacuum which has seen armed militias fighting each other and clashing with tribes and weapons circulating freely. The Economist forsees the danger that parts of Libya could be subsumed into the gun runners and drug smugglers paradise all the way to Mali in the west, which is taking over the Sahel with Al Qaeda taking full advantage.
And yet the Libyan elections have gone surprisingly well with Mahmoud Jibril and his secular alliance doing well. The Economist describes him as a sensible reformer and there is a possibility the secularists and islamists may be able to work together.
The elections proceeded well despite threats of violence and Mr Jibril's secular coalition has won in Benghazi. Islamist parties seem to accept the result and there is no islamist backlash. Nor did the federalists scupper the elections. People voted despite the call for a boycott.
If Gadaffi had won he would have slaughtered the opposition and redoubled his oppression giving home to dictators and terrorists alike. The Economist concludes that Libya is bound to falter on the road to democracy but it is at least heading in the right direction.
Infact Libya has not gone the way of Irag and Afghanistan where western intervention has had negative results. Doubters point events in Egypt and Syria but Libya has avoided the worst disruption despite milita and tribal violence. The Economist says that the Arab world must be allowed the chance to disprove the prejudices against it. There is no Arab country where democracy is completely secure but Libya is amongst those which is doing better than others.
The 7 July vote in Libya took place against the backdrop of over 40 years of Gadaffi's dictatorship which denied any freedom of expression which gave no prior experience of the democratic process or how to organise elections. Tolerance and pluralism will take time to be accepted.
In the central Tripoli electoral district, the National Forces Alliance (NFA) had a nearly ten-fold advantage over the
Muslim Brotherhood's Justice and Construction Party (JCP) in voting for seats reserved for parties in the national congress, AFP reported.
The NFA scored 46,225 votes compared with the JCP's modest 4,774. The remainder of the eight constituencies in Tripoli voted along similar lines with the exception of Hay Al-Andalus, where the NFA did not field candidates.
Thursday's electoral commission figures, combined with earlier results from the eastern city of Benghazi, cradle of the revolt that ousted Moamer Gadaffi last year, give Jibril's coalition a massive lead among the seats reserved for parties.Libyan voters in the capital opted overwhelmingly in favour of a liberal coalition led by wartime premier Mahmud Jibril which also trounced other parties in the east, partial tallies showed on Thursday.
The fall of the Gaddafi regime left a power vacuum which has seen armed militias fighting each other and clashing with tribes and weapons circulating freely. The Economist forsees the danger that parts of Libya could be subsumed into the gun runners and drug smugglers paradise all the way to Mali in the west, which is taking over the Sahel with Al Qaeda taking full advantage.
And yet the Libyan elections have gone surprisingly well with Mahmoud Jibril and his secular alliance doing well. The Economist describes him as a sensible reformer and there is a possibility the secularists and islamists may be able to work together.
The elections proceeded well despite threats of violence and Mr Jibril's secular coalition has won in Benghazi. Islamist parties seem to accept the result and there is no islamist backlash. Nor did the federalists scupper the elections. People voted despite the call for a boycott.
If Gadaffi had won he would have slaughtered the opposition and redoubled his oppression giving home to dictators and terrorists alike. The Economist concludes that Libya is bound to falter on the road to democracy but it is at least heading in the right direction.
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/Libya-s-electio...