Has Libya achieved a genuine spring or has it merely been a bloody fall marked by a successive failure of governments?
To answer this question, we must review the situation prior to the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi, which was achieved by a unanimous public demand inspired by the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions. However, whether or not the Libyan spring has achieved its purpose is now a question posed to understand the outcomes of the revolution and the means by which authorities address them.
Characteristics of the phase
Has Libya achieved a genuine spring or has it merely been a bloody fall marked by a successive failure of governments?
To answer this question, we must review the situation prior to the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi, which was achieved by a unanimous public demand inspired by the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions. However, whether or not the Libyan spring has achieved its purpose is now a question posed to understand the outcomes of the revolution and the means by which authorities address them.
Characteristics of the phase
The numerous pending issues that cripple the development of society and the governments’ explicit failure to address the most important issues represented in disarmament, security and militias—which weaken the state’s structure and undermine its army—pose serious questions still waiting to be answered.
It is worth mentioning that accomplished dues of the revolution such as elections and the establishment of several governments, despite their failure, have long been aspired and never realized under Gaddafi.
One of the prominent attributes of the transitional phase was the political isolation law, which was welcomed by few but reluctantly accepted by others. The law was passed as a good deed underlying negative intensions under the absence of a detailed regulation law that defines the criteria of exclusion that would even include the prime minister.
The following round-up of opinions, amongst Libyan intellectuals and activists, gives a varied take on the country’s progress since the 2011 revolution.
The problem lies within us
Libyan activist Mahmoud Ali said: “Yes, Libya has witnessed a genuine spring the direction of which, however, has deviated from its intended objective, which is the same issue as in the Arab Spring countries. Therefore, the problem lies within these countries themselves.”
Ali believes that governments are part of a fruitless system developed by the General National Council (GNC) as the country’s roadmap to change, “but the experts of the GNC have not realized that they have produced an unsuccessful system that would drag the country into Swehly’s abyss (Editor: Abdbulrahman Swehly, member of the GNC who has previously stated that Libya is heading towards the abyss) and the election of the parliament before passing the Constitution is like putting the carriage before the horse,” he added.
At the same time, he underlined the violations, which have been and are still being committed by the GNC in the name of legitimacy, including interference in assignments not within their context of specialization, such as amending several laws that should not be amended by a transitional parliament.
Beyond geography
Post-revolution media and political activist Sayeed Bouhgersaid, “Libya is now beyond geography and seasons. Fall, at least, summons the beginning of a new life, but we suffer a state void that is beyond being fulfilled by a mere government.”
Educational inspector Bouhger wondered: “Are the Libyan people ready for the current phase? Has the current government, whether legislative or executive, been legitimately elected? Has it not been a conspiracy against Libya? Thus, the problem is not excluded to the government, but it includes several other combined considerations that have created our status quo.”
Exquisite moments
Human rights activist Zahia Manfi did not deny Libya having a spring: “We experienced exquisite moments when the people decided to rise up against injustice, oppression and humiliation. We rose and shed blood to build a changed country, but saboteurs and those benefiting from this Constitution-less situation have destroyed our hope. Security has been absent and we have become haunted by the ghost of the past. However, there is a glimpse of hope because I am sure that Libya has people who will defy all odds and we will unite eventually.”
The missing link
Sudanese media and political activist Yousef Nemeh believes that Libya is suffering an unfulfilled spring as Gaddafi, in his final days in power, opened numerous arms stores that were seized by several parties, resulting in authoritarian, tribal and regional conflicts that made the elements against the Libyan revolution, particularly Gaddafi’s remnants, destabilize the security conditions of the country. Such factors contributed to the delaying the completion of the Libyan spring.
“Perhaps the greatest impact comes from the incomplete role of the legitimate authority in Libya, whether it be the GNC or the interim government, to achieve the revolution’s objectives, including passing the Constitution, forming the army and police apparatus and enforcing the sovereignty of the state and law. All these considerations combined represent the missing change link to complete the Libyan spring for which the revolution was intended. The work that has been performed so far by the government is meant for this completion, but is going on at a slow pace.”
Disappointment and shock
Media Activist Fawzi Ghwell believes that when the Libyans decided to rise against Gaddafi’s regime, inspired by the revolutions of Tunisia and Egypt, and in continuation of a previous uprising that took place on February 17, 2006, they paid a heavy price in order to end the era of bitterness witnessed under a totalitarian regime, to enjoy the achievement of their aspirations of development, justice, freedom and political participation.
“Reality, three years after the revolution, stressed the fact that Libyan citizens are now disappointed and shocked for not obtaining the least of their rights represented in the establishment of security and preventing the suspicious waste of funds.”
“In addition to the state of political void and the poor performance of the legislative and executive institutions engaged in an overheated struggle to achieve their own interests, regardless of those of the nation. by employing numerous laws and legislation including the political isolation law to settle scores.”
The most prominent of problems
The most prominent problems endangering the Libyan society following the revolution, said Ghwell, are “a failure to achieve serious results in regards to transitional justice and national reconciliation, the result of which was the spread of armed clashes motivated by partisan and tribal interests, in addition to other unsettled accounts during the pre-toppling era.”
The government has failed to activate an independent honest judiciary system which requires serious and actual efforts by all involved parties including civil society and other institutions to move the country out of this phase.”
The above views, despite being different, demonstrate the fact that Libya is undergoing a huge transformation that would take longer time under chaos, absence of security, proliferation of arms and conflicts over power, but there is a little hope in construction and development as such dreams would have never been realized without the revolution of February 17, 2011.
