The Idea Department

Two articles question the ability of post-Qaddafi Libya to cope politically and economically: Rebuilding Libya, by Barak Barfi and The Last Days of Qaddafi, by Yuriko Koike. Both posted on the same day, each article takes a difference stance on the situation, the differences being of, chaotic versus calm, of worry versus optimism.

Most anxiety can be felt from Barfi’s article, which details the challenges ahead for Libyan rebel leaders, and listing the inadequacies of Mustafa Abdel-Jalil: ‘who lacks the charisma characteristic of revolutionary leaders… who so far has been unable to communicate a compelling vision of a new Libya’. This can be contrasted with Koike’s approach to Jalil, who lists his achievements, ensuring his competence: ‘served as a judge for many years after studying Sharia and Civil Law at the University of Libya. After working as chief justice in Al Bayda, he was appointed Minister of Justice in 2007’.  Koike contrasts Jalil’s attitude with that of Qadaffi’s, by quoting his statement: ‘ I make my decisions based on the law.’

Barfi focuses on post-Qaddafi Libyan foreign dependence, considering their loss of export earnings formerly found through oil, which consisted of 96%. In comparison, Koike underlines the importance of maintaining cooperation of the dominant tribes in Libya being essential to restoration of the county and to leading in the right direction for democratic change.

Koike also ponders the election of the next Libyan president, and who will take this position, mentioning that Jalil seems to exert no real desire to take this post, and continuing to consider other possibilities in the form of Mahmoud Jibril, ‘Chairman of the NTC’s Executive Board and, ‘a man of action’.

Both mention the death of Libya’s rebel military commander Major General Abdul Fatah Younis, neither forgetting to  point out the unclear circumstances of his death, ‘killed in murky circumstances after the Council issued an arrest warrant for him’(Barfi). This reflects the unfinished task at hand, of transforming Libya into a democratic country with transparent governmental decision-making.

Finally, Barak Barfi closes his argument with a statement of encouraging the NTC to redouble its efforts. Similarly, Yuriko Koike states that the NTC will actually have to begin running the country, though optimistically ‘The trials that it has endured thus far have probably left it in a better position to lead a successful democratic transition than most observers realize’.

Read both articles in full:

Barfi: http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/barfi5/English

Koike: http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/koike21/English