Libya: How To Counter Politicians Who Want To Contain The Status Quo?

Like me, you probably haven’t heard much about Libya for a while, as it’s not a very safe country for journalists to travel to. I was therefore interested to find a podcast episode dedicated to the situation in the North-African country.

The host from the Middle East Institute, a Washington-based think tank, talks to Jonathan Winer, who will update you about Libya eight years after the country’s revolution.

There is a security crisis, a political crisis and an economic crisis.

Since 2016, there are two governments. One that is internationally recognised and headed by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj based in Tripoli, in the west of the country. The other second one is the unofficial government located in the east of the country.

Libya needs to have a constitution and security forces to fight the militia, or local warlords, who get money from the national oil company, says Winer.

He advises: Revenues need to go not just to a central government but also to municipalities, to provide services to people. If the soldiers get higher salaries than the militias, an incentive is created to become soldiers.

The politicians who are unwilling to move anything forward in order to preserve their own power aren’t making it better, like the President of the House of Representatives Aguila Saleh Issa.

There are lots of reasonable, moderate, capable Libyans. There are always hardliners who get in the way.

They also talk about why diplomatic efforts to improve the situation, like the Palermo summit last week, have failed. The exclusion of some countries and the fact certain leaders didn’t show up didn’t help. Also:

Libyans are good in signing agreements and then ignore them.

Winer also mentions Russian banknotes that played a huge role in dividing the country, and Russia’s military involvement in the east.

A divide and conquer strategy that might work for Russia, I don’t know. It’s certainly not good for Libya.