What is the situation in Libya 13 years after Gaddafi’s death? From security chaos to economic chaos’
Libya, after Tunisia and Egypt, was the third North African country to experience anti-government protests in 2011 with the aim of changing the political system from dictatorship to democracy. Thirteen years after the death of Muammar Gaddafi, the situation in Libya continues to be an experience and lesson for other countries. In this article, while referring to the situation in Libya after the death of Muammar Gaddafi, the latest political and security situation of the country is examined.
Gaddafi; Taking power by coup and falling by civil war
Muammar Gaddafi was the president of Libya from 1969 to 2011. In 1969, as a young army officer, Gaddafi overthrew the regime of King Mohammed Idris in a bloodless coup. Still, after 42 years, he was removed from power as a result of an unprecedented civil war that left tens of thousands dead. Libyan revolutionaries killed Gaddafi in October 2011. The people revolted against Gaddafi in 2011, even though during his 42-year rule, they enjoyed a good economic situation and relatively high prosperity.
Meanwhile, Gaddafi managed to unite the many Libyan tribes under his country’s flag. The BBC wrote in a report on the situation in Libya under Gaddafi: “Libya experienced stunning economic growth in the years 2000-2010. The health and social services system implemented in Libya was unprecedented throughout the black continent.”
However, Libya during Gaddafi’s time witnessed a dictatorship and a closed political situation, and there was repression and oppression in the country. The Libyan people revolted against Gaddafi’s regime in the hope of establishing a democratic government. The West also intervened in the country’s internal crisis to change the Libyan regime. Although the West, led by France, intervened in the Libyan people’s revolution in 2011 in light of the 1973 UN Security Council resolution, and NATO entered Libya under the pretext of the “responsibility to protect,” human rights were the pretext for intervention. In essence, the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime and the creation of a “stateless” state were the main goals of NATO’s intervention in Libya.
Gaddafi’s death and the general chaos in Libya
Gaddafi’s death was the beginning of a new era in Libya, which has not yet witnessed the formation of a unified national government after 13 years. Gaddafi’s death failed to establish democracy or stability in Libya, and the country entered into internal conflicts and external rivalries, which are not signs of a unified Libya. In post-Gaddafi Libya, stability and order have been lost, and in five years, nine prime ministers have come to power, some of whom have not even managed to form a government. From November 2011, when the first interim government of Libya was formed, to May 2014, i.e., in two and a half years, five interior ministers came to power in Libya. The successive changes in interior ministers were one of the main causes of the increase in insecurity in Libya. Since 2014, Libya has not witnessed the formation of a unified government and still lacks a unified national government.
The elections for the House of Representatives of Libya were held in June 2014, and the insecure conditions and severe political instability caused only 42 percent 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, which soon proved that the Libyan people had changed their minds and preferred security over democracy. In the 2014 Libyan parliamentary elections, the liberals succeeded in defeating the Islamists of the Brotherhood, but Islamist groups including the Muslim Brotherhood and the Libyan Dawn group did not accept the results of the parliamentary elections, and Libya entered a critical period due to the existence of dual sovereignty.
While the formation of the House of Representatives should have dissolved the Libyan National Congress, since June 2014, Libya has witnessed the simultaneous operation of two governments (in Tripoli and the east) and two parliaments (the National Congress and the House of Representatives), and this situation continues. Khalifa Haftar has formed the Libyan National Army in Tobruk in eastern Libya and assumed its command, and has also formed a government and parliament in eastern Libya. This is while Haftar is considered a hated figure in Tripoli, the Libyan capital. He launched an offensive to capture Tripoli in 2019, killing hundreds, but he failed to capture Tripoli and his actions only put people’s lives at risk. In addition to the governments based in Tripoli and Tobruk, Tuareg tribes also seized power in southwestern Libya. ISIS Takfiris also formed a third government in Sirte, the hometown of Muammar Gaddafi, and its surrounding areas.
Foreign intervention and the intensification of dual sovereignty in Libya
One of the important events that intensified the dual sovereignty in post-Gaddafi Libya is the intervention of foreign powers and their support for each of the parties to the conflict in Libya. Egypt, the UAE, 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 consider it the legitimate government of Libya.
In fact, the foreign powers that legitimized foreign intervention in Libya’s internal crisis through the Security Council resolution and played a role in overthrowing the Gaddafi regime have not only failed to contribute to the establishment of a strong and stable government and the formation of a stable and successful democracy in the post-Gaddafi era, but have even become a major obstacle to the establishment of a strong national government in the country. Foreign interventions and support from other countries for various groups have worsened the situation in Libya and have plunged the country into a state of conflict and civil war since the fall of the Gaddafi regime. Foreign actors have set their sights on Libya’s rich oil resources.