TRIPOLI/BENGHAZI: Libya’s wartime rebel Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril called for the some 150 political parties in the North African nation to back the creation of a grand coalition government, as election results were due to come in yesterday.
The call came as Libyans celebrated Saturday’s largely peaceful National Assembly election, the first free national poll in Libya after 42 years of Muammar Qaddafi which went ahead despite widespread fears of violence.
First official results were due late Monday and Jibril declined comment on speculation his own National Forces Alliance (NFA) of around 60 parties was leading Islamic groups including the political wing of Libya’s Muslim Brotherhood.
“We extend an honest call for a national dialogue to come altogether in one coalition, under one banner ... This is an honest and sincere call for all political parties operating today in Libya,” Jibril said.
“In yesterday’s election there was no loser or winner ... Whoever wins, Libya is the real winner,” he told a late-night news conference on Sunday. Jibril was the main point man of the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) with Western backers.
He rejected descriptions of the NFA as secular and liberal, saying a commitment to tenets of Islamic law was among its core principles — a comment which could facilitate efforts to form ties with more overtly Islamist parties. No comment was immediately available from leading groups such as the Justice and Construction Party, the political branch of the Libyan counterpart of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood. Al-Watan, an Islamist group led by former rebel militia leader Abdel Hakim Belhadj, said it would study the call yesterday.
If such a grand coalition were formed it would inevitably dominate the new 200-head assembly for which Libyans voted on Saturday and whose tasks include naming a prime minister and cabinet to serve before full parliamentary polls due in 2013.
Nearly 1.8 million of 2.8 million registered voters cast their ballots, a turnout of around 65 percent. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon nonetheless hailed the “peaceful, democratic spirit” of the vote and US President Barack Obama said he looked forward to working with the new Libyan leadership.