Last week the General National Congress (GNC) voted to make Sharia law the foundation of all legislation and state institutions in the country.
As with many such decisions, there is much uncertainty as to what this will mean in practice: What interpretation of Sharia law is to be considered the 'true' version? What will it mean to make this the foundation of all legislation?
A hasty decision in January to ban the charging and paying of interest from the start of 2015 is already stifling the Libyan banking system, and it remains to be seen what unintended consequences will result from this latest decree. Prime Minister Ali Zeidan's view that the new law is "just for a while -- to ease the tension", will not be shared by all.
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