How is the situation in Libya 13 years after Gaddafi’s death? From security chaos to economic chaos

Mehr news agency, international group: Libya after Tunisia and Egypt was the third North African country where protests experienced anti-government in 2011 with the aim of changing the political system from dictatorship to democracy. 13 years after the death of Muammar Gaddafi, the situation in Libya is still an experience and a lesson for other countries. In this article, while referring to the situation in Libya after Gaddafi’s death, the latest political and security situation of this country is examined.

Gaddafi; Gaining power with a coup and falling with a civil war

Muammar Gaddafi was the president of Libya from 1969 to 2011. In 1969, as a young army officer, Gaddafi overthrew the monarchy of Mohammed Idris in a bloodless coup, only to be ousted 42 years later by a record-breaking civil war that left tens of thousands dead. Gaddafi was killed by Libyan revolutionaries in October 2011. People revolted against Gaddafi in 2011, while during his 42-year rule, they had a good economic situation and relatively high prosperity.

Meanwhile, Gaddafi managed to unite numerous Libyan tribes under the flag of this country. In a report on the situation in Libya under Gaddafi, the BBC wrote: “Libya had a stunning economic growth between 2000 and 2010. The health and social services system implemented in Libya was unprecedented throughout the Black Continent.

However, during the Gaddafi era, Libya witnessed a dictatorship and a closed political situation, and there was repression and suffocation in this country. The Libyan people started an uprising against the Gaddafi regime in the hope of establishing a democratic government. The West also intervened in the internal crisis of this country with the aim of changing the Libyan regime. Although the West, led by France, intervened in the Libyan people’s revolution in 2011 in the light of UN Security Council Resolution 1973, and NATO entered Libya under the pretext of the “responsibility to protect” principle, human rights were the pretext for the intervention. Originally, the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime and the creation of a state of “statelessness” was the main goal of NATO’s intervention in Libya.

Gaddafi’s death and all-round disorder in Libya

Gaddafi’s death was the beginning of a new era in Libya, which has not seen the formation of a national and unified government after 13 years. Gaddafi’s death could not establish democracy or stability in Libya, and the country entered into internal conflicts and foreign rivalries, which is not a sign of a united Libya. In post-Gaddafi Libya, Sassi’s stability and order have been lost, and in 5 years, 9 prime ministers have been appointed, some of whom did not even succeed in forming a government. From November 2011, when the first interim government of Libya was formed, to May 2014, that is, in two and a half years, 5 interior ministers were appointed in Libya. The successive change of interior ministers was one of the main reasons for the increase in insecurity in Libya. Since 2014, Libya has practically not witnessed the formation of a single government and still lacks a single national government.

The Libyan House of Representatives elections were held in June 2014, and the insecure conditions and severe political instability caused only 42% of eligible voters to participate in the elections. In other words, the Libyan people, who overthrew the Gaddafi regime in the hope of establishing a democratic government, did not participate widely in the 2014 elections, so that it soon proved that the Libyan people changed their beliefs and preferred security over democracy. In the 2014 Libyan parliamentary elections, the liberals succeeded in defeating the Islamists of the Brotherhood, but the Islamist groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood and the Libyan Fajr group, did not accept the results of the parliamentary elections and Libya entered a period of crisis due to the existence of dual governance.

While the Libyan National Congress should have been dissolved with the formation of the House of Representatives, since June 2014, Libya has witnessed the simultaneous activity of two governments (in Tripoli and the East) and two parliaments ( National Congress and House of Representatives) that this situation continues. Khalifa Haftar formed the Libyan National Army in Tobruk in eastern Libya and assumed its command, and he also formed a government and a parliament in eastern Libya. At the same time, Haftar is considered a hated figure in Tripoli, the capital of Libya. In 2019, he launched an attack to capture Tripoli and killed hundreds of people, but he failed to capture Tripoli and his action only endangered people’s lives. In addition to the governments based in Tripoli and Tobruk, Tuareg tribes also took power in southwestern Libya. ISIS takfiris also formed a third government in the city of Sirte, the hometown of Muammar Gaddafi and its surrounding areas.

Foreign intervention and escalation of dual governance in Libya

One ​​of the important events that intensified the dual governance in post-Gaddafi Libya is the intervention of foreign powers and their support for each of the parties involved in Libya. Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Jordan and Russia support the government based in the east and Khalifa Haftar, while the United Nations, Turkey, Qatar, European countries and the United States support the government based in Tripoli and call it the legitimate government of Libya. They know.

In fact, the foreign powers that legitimized foreign intervention in Libya’s internal crisis in the form of a Security Council resolution and played a role in overthrowing the Gaddafi regime, in the post-Gaddafi era Not only have they not contributed to the creation of a strong and stable government and the formation of a stable and successful democracy, but they are also considered a great obstacle to the creation of a strong national government in this country. Foreign interventions and the support of other countries to various groups have worsened the situation in Libya and put this country in a state of conflict and civil war since the fall of the Gaddafi government.. Foreign actors are eyeing Libya’s rich oil resources.

Result

After Gaddafi, Libya became a fragmented country with parallel, bankrupt and failed governments. The confrontation between secular and Islamist actors and the presence of takfiri groups as well as the intervention of foreign powers and their support for one of the parties to the conflict in Libya are the main causes of the chaotic situation in this country after the death of Muammar is Gaddafi. Gaddafi’s death could not establish democracy or stability in this country, and on the contrary, this country has been witnessing a vicious cycle of failure in political processes for 13 years.

Instability, Chaos and lawlessness in Libya makes this country safe for terrorist groupsconverted. 13 years of conflict and political instability and security disorder have destroyed the infrastructure of Libya and put the economy under the radius. Some analysts and experts claim that this bitter situation has caused people to suffer psychologically in the new era and to refer to the Gaddafi regime as “the good old days”. Today’s Libya, where there is no prospect for peace and the formation of a unified national government, has become a model for countries that face the overthrow of governments and foreign intervention. The main victims of this situation are the people and civilians.

Syed Razi Emadi; Researcher of West Asian issues