Under pressure from armed militias, Libya’s parliament passed a sweeping law Sunday that bans anyone who served as a senior official under Moammar Gadhafi during his 42-year rule from working in government.
The Political Isolation Law could lead to the dismissal of many current leaders, some of whom had defected to the rebel side during the country’s 2011 civil war or had been elected to office since Gadhafi’s ouster and killing. The move is also likely to further stall the country’s already rocky transition to democracy by ousting elected lawmakers.
It injects a new dose of uncertainty into Libyan politics during a still-fragile transition. Liberals say it will give a boost to Islamists, who performed poorly in recent elections compared to their counterparts in other Arab states, although Islamists said they could also be affected by the ban.
The law was partially driven by the unpopularity of Libya’s current crop of politicians among many of the still-powerful former rebels who toppled Gadhafi, and others who say little has improved since. Backers of the law say it is necessary to complete the revolution.
But critics say the law was passed at gunpoint, as militias have surrounded several government buildings in Tripoli for the past several days barring officials from work. Their vehicles, mounted with rocket-propelled grenades, kept watch on the street during the vote.
Most of the militias have roots in the rebel groups that fought Gadhafi, but they have mushroomed in the two years since his fall. Many of the armed groups have been accused of rights abuses, but the government continues to rely on them to keep order in the absence of a strong police or military. Many militiamen say they mostly want jobs and steady pay.
The General National Congress, Libya’s elected parliament, voted overwhelmingly in favor of the law. Out of 200 lawmakers, 169 attended the vote.
Deputy head of parliament Juma Attiga, who oversaw the vote, told the TV station Libya Ahrar that militias had pressured parliament to vote in favor of the law, but that he had planned to vote yes in any case. He may be affected since he served as head of a governmental rights group under Gadhafi.
The law highlights the government’s inability to rein in armed groups and exposes the many obstacles the North African nation faces in rebuilding its weak central government.
It comes at a time when Islamists are in a position of strength following the Arab Spring uprisings that saw Libya’s two neighbors — Tunisia and Egypt — oust longtime autocrats from power. As is the case in all three nations, Islamists and liberals are in a power tussle for control over the direction of their countries.
But unlike Egypt and Tunisia, liberals won big in Libya’s first free elections last year. Former rebel leader Mahmoud Jibril’s liberal bloc took nearly half of the seats allocated for party lists. The body has a significant number of independents allied with Islamist parties.
Legislators said the law states that parliamentarians who lose their post will be replaced by either the next name on the party list or by the independent candidate who came in second in a district. This could benefit many Islamists, who trailed in the elections and came in second in many districts.
Lawmaker Tawfiq al-Shaybi, who is with Jibril’s bloc, told Libya Ahrar TV that the country’s Muslim Brotherhood party was pushing the law “in favor of themselves rather that in favor of what is best for the country.”
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