Libya’s Brotherhood trying to copy Tunisian model

Mustafa Kamel

The Muslim Brotherhood has started making efforts to control Libya’s institution as the North African state makes moves towards a long-awaited stability.

The Brotherhood does this by seeking support from politicians who can help it implement its agenda.

It is learning a lesson from Tunisia where the Muslim Brotherhood threw its weight behind Moncef Marzouki, a leftist politician who founded a controversial system that opened the door for many political crises that continue to beset Tunisia until today.

Election mechanism

The United Nations mission in Libya will organize a meeting on the election mechanism in the coming few days.

The meeting will specifically focus on whether the president will be elected directly by ordinary Libyans or by the parliament.

The meeting will also focus on proposed dates for the elections.

The election mechanism in relation to the president will have deep effects on the nature of the coming period, observers said.

It will also have an effect on whether the Libyans will be able to unify their country’s institutions.

The same observers cited comments by the Head of the Election Commission, Emad al-Sayeh, in which he alluded to the possibility of approving a mechanism that allows the parliament to elect the president.

Copying the Tunisian model

The presidential election mechanism was the focal point of contention among Libyan politicians who met in Tunisia recently.

Some of these politicians favored a proposal for making the election of the president the job of the president.

However, the proposal has raised many question marks, especially amid fears that some political forces will use the mechanism to back specific political figures for the presidential office to serve their own interests.