Political structure of libya in the past and its current challenges Research Paper

Political structure of libya in the past and its current challenges including the national transition council - Research Paper Example Unlike the protests in Tunisia and Egypt, Libyans took a different approach torching and demolishing government buildings from the outset. Within a few days, the protests had found their way to the capital Tripoli and other major cities especially in the north-west. A look at other Arab countries such as Tunisia and Egypt revealed an active participation of organized social movements, opposition parties and trade unions (Inbar 110). However, this was not the case in Libya, the long serving Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, had actively suppressed these organized bodies which informed their inexistence. Initially, the actors of the uprising were unorganized young men who acted spontaneously and lacked the social interactive forums as was the case in other Arab countries (Panara and Gary 10). Furthermore, these young men could not be identified as representatives of the Libyan middle class as the Libyan private sector was comparatively weak. There were two main reasons that led to the de velopment of the uprisings into a revolution. The first reason was the regime’s violent response to the protests. Initially, the uprisings were isolated and the regime was keen on suppressing them before they reached unprecedented levels as was the case with most of Libya’s neighbors (Panara and Gary 10). ... The second development was the institution of NTC (National Transition Committee) in Benghazi in early March. NTC was largely made up of elitists who had defected from the regime and assumed leadership of the unorganized uprising with a promise of bringing down the regime (Inbar 110). The background of the Libyan revolt against ruler Muammar Gaddafi had little to do with the overall performance of the economy. The high prices of oil in the international markets had helped the Libyan economy prosper. Following Gaddafi’s decision in 2003 to give up weapons of mass destruction programs, Libya returned to the forefront of international investor attention. From that point, overall growth increased, reaching 10 percent in 2010. Libya’s estimated 2010 GDP was $71.336 billion, of which oil accounts for 98 percent (Inbar 111). Nevertheless, there was vast corruption and nepotism, at least one third of residents lived in poverty, the unemployment rate was 30 percent, and substant ial income gaps existed between rich and poor; all of this helped fuel the resistance to the Gaddafi regime. Political developments From the beginning, both the political leadership and the forces that shaped the revolution were diverse and disjointed. The NTC was largely made up of longstanding members of the exiled opposition and had also created room for Gaddafi loyalists turned dissidents such as General Abdel Fatta Younis. The NTC also played host to influential and aristocratic families who had been isolated by the Gaddafi regime. This diversity created a clear split of ideas on the way forward, some of these individuals fought for reforms, while others only fought for inclusion (MacQueen 378). This