Just to remind ourselves that these people queued from 7am in the morning to place their vote in the first ever elections after 42 years of repression.
They voted and their choice was strikingly obvious nationwide. They voted for moderates, stating that they wanted the focus to be on education, health care, rule of law and justice, not on religion. One woman claimed ” we are all Muslim, we do not need to be told how to be a good muslim. “ The Muslim Brotherhood amongst other parties that had a religious focus did not get the result they had hoped for and Libya was the exception from neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt.
Libya must remain focussed on that choice and not allow lawless groups to creap in the back door. Libya is currently in a security and power vacuum with the GNC having only sat on the 8th of August and the new government not being chosen until the 8th of September. During this period we have seen a rise in extremist groups and militia taking advantage of the current weakness in the political field. Groups using religion as a tool, some being linked to the wahabi movement in Saudi Arabia, are causing much destruction and many are fearing to speak out.
We must keep in the forefront of our minds not only what we queued for at 7am on the 7th of July 2012, but what we lost lives for during over 7months of war: freedom of choice. Let this not become a paranoid state ruled by fear and vigilantism. We must act now if we are to safeguard our revolution.
