The National Transitional Council (NTC), Libya’s interim governing body, published a draft law online on 01 January 2012, according to Reuters. The law bans Libyans with ties to Moammar Gaddafi and academics who wrote about Gaddafi’s “Green Book” from running in Libyan elections. The law, expected to be finalised within a month, codifies the process for electing a national assembly responsible for writing Libya’s new constitution. According to Asharq Alawsat, Chairman of Tripoli’s Revolutionist Council Abdullah Nakir said he intends to announce the establishment of a political party in mid-January 2012. The formation of the political party symbolises the revolutionaries’ wish to participate in political and partisan life in the new Libya. The name of the new political party has not yet been announced, the article reports. According to Middle East Online, in the final communique issued after a conference of the “Union of Thwars in Libya”, the revolutionaries (or thwars) who fought against former leader Moammar Gaddafi are demanding 40% representation in the NTC. The Union of Thwars in Libya claim to represent the views of up to 70% of the anti-Gaddafi fighters. According to the Tripoli Post, Libya’s Muslim Brotherhood formed a political party and will run in the general elections in June. The article reports that the leaders of the new party claim to be administratively and organisationally independent from the the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood with its objective being to work towards a civil state that has an Islamic reference.
(Source: CFC Weekly Sector Review)