Although the ballots are still being counted, provisional figures show that Libya has shut-out the Muslim Brotherhood in favour of interim Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril, head of the pro-west National Forces Alliance.
Although the ballots are still being counted, provisional figures show that Libya has shut-out the Muslim Brotherhood in favour of interim Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril, head of the pro-west National Forces Alliance.
Jibril is reported to have have won close to 80 per cent of the vote in Tripoli, with strong results in the south and 60 per cent in Benghazi. With a masters and doctorate from the University of Pittsburg, Jabril is a markedly different candidate from those who won elections in other countries that took part in the Arab Spring. Islamic governments have risen to power in both Egypt and Tunisia.
Libyans turned out in large numbers on Saturday to vote in the first free election since 1969. Although some violence was reported on Saturday, the election process was largely peaceful.
On Monday morning, Jibril called for all of the nearly 60 parties participating in the election to come together in one grand coalition for the sake of national unity. Jabril has previously rejected descriptions of his NFA as secular and liberal, saying a commitment to Islamic law is one of the party’s core principles.
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