A recent draft election law in Libya is
causing outrage among varying sectors of Libyan society. The content
of the legislation, posted online by the NATO-installed National
Transition Council, focuses on the rules for the national assembly
elections to be held in August.
Under the draft law, anyone with ties
to Muammar Gaddafi or the previous sovereign Libyan government will
be banned from running in the elections, including those who
“benefited monetarily” from the government. The provision also
bars from participation academics who wrote and published about
Gaddafi’s “Green Book.”
The vague legislation is based on the myth that only a small section of Libyans supported the Gadaffi government. It is worth
recalling that in fact the largest demonstrations during the eight-month NATO
assault on Libya were in support of the government, not the rebels.
In other words, in the new “democratic” Libya, only politicians
acceptable to the NATO rebels will be eligible to run for political
office.
The legislation is also problematic
because it eliminates any non-violent avenues for supporters of the
former sovereign government and the Green Resistance to participate
in reconciliation after the devastating war. Resistance organizations
have been regrouping in the southern Sahel region, which provides
easy access to several neighboring countries.
Journalist Franklin Lamb, who is
currently in Libya, wrote recently, “There is clear and growing
pro-Gadhafi political and military activity here and it is why NTC
leader Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the other day warned against the Gadhafi
children raising an insurrection.” (Counterpunch, Jan. 13-15)
The Libyan Liberation Front had
previously been planning on running in the August elections.
The draft legislation also appears to
continue the NTC’s attack on women’s rights in Libya. The draft
law may set a quota of 10 percent on women’s representation in the
national assembly. This would mean women would be limited to 20 seats
out of 200, and has been strongly condemned by women’s and human
rights organizations in Libya. It is possible that the language in
the draft law needs to be clarified and that the intent is to reserve
(but not limit) women to 10 percent of seats. However, it is telling
that women in Libya have protested the language, interpreting it as a
limitation.
Under the Gaddafi government, there
were no restrictions on women’s participation in social, economic
or political life.
