Libyans have started decorating homes and streets everywhere in the country to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the February 17 revolution, which ousted the long-time dictator Moammar Gaddafi in 2011.
This year’s anniversary makes it a decade for Libyans without the rule of Gaddafi and his henchmen, yet over the past ten years, so many Gaddafi-style individuals got in the way of fulfilling Libyans’ aspirations for freedom, civil state, and democracy.
From war, internal conflicts, political stalemate, Khlifa Haftar’s aggression on Tripoli, and so much more, to a very defining moment of Libya’s history on the tenth anniversary of the revolution: political solution.
Elections and Reconciliation
Libyans are now witnessing a new phase of the political process under the auspices of the UN Support Mission, whose Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) managed to use the regional quota system and elect a new three-member Presidential Council, Head Mohammed Menfi, members Moussa Al-Koni, and Abdullah Al-Lafi, as well as a separate Prime Minister, Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah.
The new executive authority is supposed to replace and end a six-year tenure of the Government of National Accord of Fayez Al-Sarraj’s Presidential Council.
The new interim government, when approved by the House of Representatives or if not, by the LPDF, will lead Libya to general elections on December 24, 2021. A date so soon, even the one who brokered it, former acting envoy of the UN, Stephanie Williams, said it was fragile.
Yet, Menfi and Dbeibah have both vowed to reach out to all Libyans in all three regions in order to achieve diversity and national reconciliation ahead of December elections.
Celebrations and Expectations
As Libyans start this tenth anniversary February 17 revolution celebrations, they are preoccupied with what will become of their country by 2021’s end. Will there be a constitutional referendum very soon so that elections in December can have a valid and solid basis? A question that most Libyans ask, but for now they just want democracy, security, prosperity, services and unity.
