Libyan coup d'état, 2012 style

The draft election law recently put out as a trial balloon by the NTC should be dead on arrival. It has many errors and omissions but one of the most glaring is the seemingly arbitrary selection of 20 reserved seats for women. How and why did they choose 20? Why not 50 or for that matter 100? In addition, to force dual nationals to give up their non-Libyan citizenship in order to run for office is draconian and silly.

I don't want a parliamentary system in Libya but that's probably what we'll end up with. The European style parliament is one of the worst forms of democracy. It is too unstable and fosters coalition building which sounds good until the coalition starts to fall apart and a snap election is called. I think Libya might become a place of yearly elections if all the tribes and power players can't work things out and the Prime Minister's party loses a vote of confidence or loses its majority if some small group of parliament decide to break away from the ruling coalition.

One of the good, and in a way bad, things about how Libya gained its freedom from the House of Gaddafi is the fact that there is currently no leader in Libya with charisma or a lot of street cred. There is certainly a need for a person with leadership, vision, and charisma but they often end up wanting to become a permanent fixture in the throne. I believe, although with no concrete proof, that there are likely people and groups who are waiting for the opportunity to kick out the NTC or manipulate the NTC to their own ends and take over power in Libya. All freedom loving and rational Libyans have to be on guard against anyone or any group who will try to impose a malevolent and self centered agenda on the Libyan people.

After 42 years of insanity, we must ask God for help and look at ourselves to find people of good character who will faithfully and honestly work to better the lives of the Libyan nation.

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL6E8CF09420120115?sp=true   

War and Peace

The future of Libya is in a precarious state right now. There are those ignorant fools who think that by force of arms, they will impose their will on Libya. By following this path, all of these armed groups will move inexorably towards civil war to finish what Gaddafi started. Gaddafi never turned Libya into a rational functioning state; he kept the people paranoid and ignorant. My family was among the lucky to have escaped to the West and could only look back and hope for change in Libya. Now that the change has arrived and indeed the whirlwind has changed the world and not just Libya, the Libyan people must show that they can overcome the stereotype of Arabs. We must use words and not bullets.  We must use our heads and not simply give in to our desire for revenge or war booty.

We Libyans should not cut off our nose to spite our face or fight each other tooth and nail to get the spoils of the revolution.

If Libya does indeed degenerate into a free for all, my brothers and I will be more inclined than ever to return to help our relatives survive the coming storm. I hope and pray that further fighting does not break out. Libya is a rich country and needs all of us working together to create a better future for Libya and indeed the region and the whole Muslim world.

The Economist is predicting that Libya will have the most economic growth this year. I know this to be true but the sad fact is Gaddafi  stifled the growth of the country and the revolution destroyed what little infrastructure and much of the investments Gaddafi  and crew made in weapons and hurt too many good Libyans. The end of Gaddafi is something that all good Libyans have been waiting for. Now we must bury the hatchet and forge ahead to improve our lives and those who have suffered due to the former regime.


http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2012/01/daily-chart

The NTC is a mess

Today I found out that there was hours of fighting in Tripoli between Misratah rebels and Tripoli rebels.  This is insane.  Why are Misratah guys in Tripoli shooting it out?  What is the NTC doing to defuse tensions and stop people from dying for no good reason?  The people of Libya must demand that the un-elected members of the NTC change their ways before things get out of hand and a civil war develops. 

In addition, the NTC is trying to rig up the elections so that those of us with dual citizenship are barred from elections?  Why are we going to be treated as second class citizens?  We helped to foster and nurture the revolution.  In fact some dual nationals died during the war or were injured.  Why is the NTC treating us in the same manner as Gaddafi loyalists and saying both groups can't run for elected office?  Does the NTC not want dual nationals to return home to help in the reconstruction of Libya?