The recent serial triumphs of the Muslim Brotherhood in the region led people to believe that it would also prevail in Libya. Things, however, did not quite turn out as expected.

The election results in Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco and the developments in Syria and Jordon are a testament to the claim that the current era in the Middle East belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood.

This prevalence, however, does not mean that an absolute majority in these countries lean toward the MB as was demonstrated by the group’s failure to secure even half of the seats in the Egyptian, Tunisian and Moroccan parliaments. It should also be born in mind that the MB is also privileged with a history and organization that no other party or group in the Arab states enjoys.

The outcome of the recent Libyan National Assembly elections, however, revealed that the country’s MB was a long a way behind its brethren in the other Arab states.

The first Libyan Assembly is not one just like any other. It is tasked with drafting a new constitution, which will be put to vote in country’s the first referendum after the fall of former dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Furthermore, it will appoint the next prime minister.

Of the 200 seats in the Libyan Assembly, 80 will go to those who have been introduced by the parties. Of these 80 vacancies, 40 will be filled with a large coalition led by Mahmoud Jibril. MB took 17 seats. The remaining seats went to lesser known parties.

The Jibril coalition, then, has secured one fifth of the total seats, with independent representatives clinching the remaining 120 positions. Now, any coalition which succeeds to lure these 120 representatives can win a majority and nominate the prime minister. The obvious implication is that Jibril cannot form a government by himself.

In the Arab communities and especially in Libya, not every party outside the MB circle is necessarily secular and nonreligious. Furthermore, the Libyan people, who had seen no leader other than Gaddafi and who had no experience in elections, were mostly out of touch with concepts such as parties, Islamism, Liberalism or Salafism. In his election campaign and agenda, Jibril announced that Islam will be the source of the legislation in Libya.

This did not happen in Tunisia and their MB (al-Nahada) abandoned this cause. As for Egypt, it is early to comment as no constitution has yet been drafted or ratified to make an assessment of the people or the legislators’ inclinations. For the Libyan people, however, a party which stresses the centrality of Islam in the legislative process gains legitimacy and acceptability.

The Libyan people tend more toward Sufist than Salafist Islam. Salafism does not have a long history in Libya. The MB and the Salafists also suffered greater repression at the hands of Gaddafi than their counterparts did at the hands of Hosni Mubarak or Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in Egypt and Tunisia respectively.

Furthermore, the inclination of some Salafi leaders toward al-Qaeda aroused suspicion among the Libyans. At the very outset of regime change in Libya, it became known that the conqueror of Tripoli had previously been imprisoned for allegedly being an al-Qaeda member.

During the Libyan elections, it was rumored that the MB and Salafists had been funded by Saudi Arabia and Qatar and even the color of their campaign banners matched that of Qatar. The conduct of Egypt’s MB after the fall of Mubarak also created suspicions among the Libyan people regarding the group in their own country.

Jibril was the transitional prime minister in Libya, was educated in the West and had benefited from Western advice on campaigning, highlighting attractive issues such as women’s rights, individual freedom and peaceful coexistence of the tribes etc. The thirty-three female members of the Libyan Assembly could make all the difference.

One should also not forget that Jibril belongs to one of the biggest tribes in Libya and it goes without saying that it will be paramount for them to see one of their own sons become prime minister.

Source: Islam Times