"We are seeing the birth of a new Libya that is as beautiful as the waves of the sea", Libya’s outgoing Prime Minister Abdul-Rahman al-Kib [Al-Keeb, Al-Keib] told Time Magazine, as power passed from the National Transitional Council to the newly-elected national assembly.
The 200-member congress selected former opposition leader Mohammed Magarief [Magariaf], regarded as a moderate Islamist, as its president, and it will go on to name a prime minister, pass laws and steer Libya to full parliamentary elections after a new constitution is drafted next year.
Calling for unity, Magarief said of the next cabinet: "It should be a coalition government, a national reconciliation government."
While it is taking some time for foreign companies to enter the Libyan market, the President said, "One of our targets is ... to see the return of these companies and our economy needs (that). But this should not be at the expense of other principles and other issues."
How that balance is achieved in practice remains to be seen, but we hope that the requirement for a two-thirds majority on key decisions in the assembly, and the rivalry between regions, are not allowed to hamper Libya's progress.
