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In a meeting with Libyan journalists, writers, and representatives of civil associations at the beginning of this month, Seif Al-Islam Muammar Al-Gaddafi (President of Gaddafi Development Foundation), stated that the political process in Libya could not move forward until all Libyans were able to fully understand and freely discuss politics in homes, clubs, and each and every place. Actually Libyans have been doing that for years.
Although discussions mostly took place privately between family members and trusted friends, they did involve both males and females. My own family’s (including aunts, uncles, and cousins) political discussions were lively - sometimes rowdy- sessions that mixed serious conversation with silly observations interspersed with the hissed interruption, "shh, the neighbours will hear you!". Very often the sessions ended up turning into a ‘men versus women’ debate. The men observed that –in general- women in Libya had it easy, not having to work, not having to go to any wars, and the women replied that that was the price men had to pay for being men.
Everyone had an opinion. Even those who claimed that they had no interest in politics got drawn into the heated discussions. I remember many of those, especially during the Libyan-Chadian war and the fear for those fighting on the southern border. The questions that went through everyone’s minds: would they come home safe and sound? Many did not. But that’s another story. The point is that we can’t wait for the future to mobilise the “Libya al-Ghadd” political programme. I had expected nationwide debates, that covered all aspects of Libyan politics, yet there still seems to be an atmosphere of cautiousness, wariness, and mistrust. People aren’t sure if this is reality: the freedom to discuss anything political as mentioned by Seif Al-Islam Al-Gaddafi in his speech in August.
Four topics –considered by Seif Al-Islam to be “untouchable red lines”- should be open for discussion too, if there is to be a truly democratic atmosphere in Libya. Personally, I agree with him. But there has to be national consensus regarding these topics; that these are in fact agreed upon by all Libyans. For the time being, aside from those topics, what’s left is still a very broad boundary to work within, and I’m optimistic. Unless people are shaken into action now, the situation will be too slow to develop.
The most important message to put across is that people will not be imprisoned for criticising, for putting forth a political opinion; that this is guaranteed by law. The right to freedom of speech is proclaimed a basic human right for all Libyans in both the ‘First Declaration’ (issued in Benghazi on the 1st of September 1969) and in the ‘ Great Green Charter for Human Rights’ (issued in 1988), but never actually applied in practise. Both have been suggested as the basis for a newly drafted constitution, which is something not to be rushed.
The same People’s Committees already in place should be made use of to start the process by calling on everyone to attend localised meetings. Of course, the members of these committees would only have administrative duties, not political. The national debates, or discussions, can also be carried on by the newspapers and television channels by asking people to write or call in, giving their direct opinions on the political change. What are we waiting for? We’ve already waited long enough. Once the process begins- even with minimum participation, it becomes encouraging for more people to attend.
What we have to learn is not the "discussion" part of the process. We need to know that ‘freely’ means just that. Can we really stop looking over our shoulders, before we speak out? |
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