TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) - Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's son announced he will no longer be involved in politics, calling for democratic reforms and denying he would succeed his father, as many have expected.
Seif al-Islam Gadhafi addressed thousands of young Libyans in the southern city of Sabha on Wednesday in a lengthy speech broadcast on state-run television.
"I have decided not to intervene in state affairs," said the younger Gadhafi, dressed in a dark business suit. "In the past, I used to intervene (in politics) due to the absence of institutions," he added.
He gave no explanation for his decision, and in Libya's extremely opaque politics it could not immediately be determined if it will seriously be carried out. Seif al-Islam acknowledged the move could raise speculation of a rift between him and his father, but denied that was the case. There have been no public signs of any dispute between the two.
"I don't have any problem" with the elder Gadhafi, he said. "I just met with him before I came here."
The younger Gadhafi holds no official post but has grown in prominence in recent years, directing economic reforms and playing a major role in negotiations with the West that restoring Libya's ties after decades of isolation. That fueled speculation he was being groomed to take power after his 66-year-old father steps down or dies, although Seif al-Islam has denied it in the past.
Libya has been ruled without a constitution since a 1969 coup led by the elder Gadhafi, who has run Libya with an iron fist under a so-called "Jamahiriya." The word, invented by Gadhafi from an Arabic word for "the masses," claims to hand direct rule to the people, but has led to an unusual system where lines of government power are unclear and Gadhafi's word holds sway.
In his speech, Seif al-Islam called for restoring Libya's constitution and for the establishment of "a strong civil society." He described Arab nations as ruled by authoritarian regimes and called for a democratic transformation for Libya.
"The Middle East and North Africa's peoples are living in a forest of dictatorships, political systems that violate human rights despite the presence of parliaments and constitutions, but they are all fictitious," the younger Gadhafi said.
His father also often denounces other regimes in the region as dictatorial, though he has dismissed the need for major changes in the Jamahiriya system even as he backs economic reform.
In his speech, the younger Gadhafi again ruled out intentions to succeed his father.
"This is not a farm to inherit. ... Don't tell me that I am the son of Gadhafi and therefore I am going to take over power," he said.
Educated in Europe and fluent in English, German and French, Seif al-Islam heads the Gadhafi International Association for Charitable Organizations, a network concerned with issues like human rights and education. It is officially not governmental but has been a platform for drawing up ambitious plans for economic liberalization in Libya.
Showing posts with label Libya. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Libya. Show all posts
Friday, 22 August 2008
Thursday, 21 August 2008
Kadhafi son says quitting politics
Veteran Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's son and heir apparent Seif al-Islam has announced his withdrawal from politics in what analysts said was a sign of his frustration with the slow pace of the reforms he has championed.
"I have decided no longer to intervene in state affairs," the 36-year-old told thousands of young supporters in the town of Sebha 800 kilometres (500 miles) south of the capital Tripoli late on Wednesday.
Seif al-Islam said he had been "obliged to intervene" in politics in the past despite his lack of any official position because of the lack of political institutions and a civil service but said he now saw no need to carry on.
"It's true that I have intervened in all fields, in foreign affairs and in domestic Libyan matters like development, housing, urban planning and so on," he said.
He cited the settlement of the claims of the families of the 270 dead in the 1988 bombing of a US airliner over Lockerbie Scotland and the release last year of six Bulgarian medics held for more than eight years on widely criticised charges of infecting children with the AIDS virus.
"I have achieved my programme," he said. "The train is currently on the rails."
"I have no more big battles to fight and my position is becoming embarrassing," Seif al-Islam said. "The situation has changed. If I carry on, there will be a problem."
In a series of speeches in August last year in the run-up to the regime's 38th anniversary, Seif al-Islam set out a series of proposed changes to the state-led system of people's committees that has held sway since the 1970s.
They included a major privatisation campaign, an 80 billion euro investment programme, and a new constitution that would protect independent media as a bulwark against corruption.
Mahmud Boussifi, the editor of the independent Oya and Qurina newspapers set up at Seif al-Islam's initiative, said he felt the announcement by Kadhafi's son was a sign of his "frustration with the Libyan bureaucracy which has slowed down the pace of his reforms."
"He is young and was hoping rapidly to make major progress but he ran into bureaucratic obstacles that he had not expected," Boussifi said.
Another Libyan analyst said he felt Seif al-Islam's announcement would have no long-term impact on the succession to the veteran Kadhafi, who has been in power since 1969.
"I think that this is only a short-term withdrawal that will pave the way for a new phase aimed at recasting his role in public life and giving it a legitimacy grounded in civil society," he said, asking not be identified.
Seif al-Islam insisted the reforms he had championed had never been in conflict with the "people power" ideology his father had set out in his "Green Book" and which led to the country being renamed the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriyah.
He said his proposals for a new de facto constitution would protect Kadhafi's political thinking and reiterated that any questioning of his father's role remained a "red line".
He said the proposed "social contract" would contain a "special Moamer Kadhafi law" stipulating that the powers and prerogatives of the "guide", as Kadhafi is styled, were "could neither be passed on nor inherited."
Seif al-Islam hit out at the "sea of dictatorships" across the Middle East and North Africa in which "parliaments are mere shams" and leaders routinely trample on constitutions and said he hoped Libya could provide an alternative model for the region.
"I have decided no longer to intervene in state affairs," the 36-year-old told thousands of young supporters in the town of Sebha 800 kilometres (500 miles) south of the capital Tripoli late on Wednesday.
Seif al-Islam said he had been "obliged to intervene" in politics in the past despite his lack of any official position because of the lack of political institutions and a civil service but said he now saw no need to carry on.
"It's true that I have intervened in all fields, in foreign affairs and in domestic Libyan matters like development, housing, urban planning and so on," he said.
He cited the settlement of the claims of the families of the 270 dead in the 1988 bombing of a US airliner over Lockerbie Scotland and the release last year of six Bulgarian medics held for more than eight years on widely criticised charges of infecting children with the AIDS virus.
"I have achieved my programme," he said. "The train is currently on the rails."
"I have no more big battles to fight and my position is becoming embarrassing," Seif al-Islam said. "The situation has changed. If I carry on, there will be a problem."
In a series of speeches in August last year in the run-up to the regime's 38th anniversary, Seif al-Islam set out a series of proposed changes to the state-led system of people's committees that has held sway since the 1970s.
They included a major privatisation campaign, an 80 billion euro investment programme, and a new constitution that would protect independent media as a bulwark against corruption.
Mahmud Boussifi, the editor of the independent Oya and Qurina newspapers set up at Seif al-Islam's initiative, said he felt the announcement by Kadhafi's son was a sign of his "frustration with the Libyan bureaucracy which has slowed down the pace of his reforms."
"He is young and was hoping rapidly to make major progress but he ran into bureaucratic obstacles that he had not expected," Boussifi said.
Another Libyan analyst said he felt Seif al-Islam's announcement would have no long-term impact on the succession to the veteran Kadhafi, who has been in power since 1969.
"I think that this is only a short-term withdrawal that will pave the way for a new phase aimed at recasting his role in public life and giving it a legitimacy grounded in civil society," he said, asking not be identified.
Seif al-Islam insisted the reforms he had championed had never been in conflict with the "people power" ideology his father had set out in his "Green Book" and which led to the country being renamed the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriyah.
He said his proposals for a new de facto constitution would protect Kadhafi's political thinking and reiterated that any questioning of his father's role remained a "red line".
He said the proposed "social contract" would contain a "special Moamer Kadhafi law" stipulating that the powers and prerogatives of the "guide", as Kadhafi is styled, were "could neither be passed on nor inherited."
Seif al-Islam hit out at the "sea of dictatorships" across the Middle East and North Africa in which "parliaments are mere shams" and leaders routinely trample on constitutions and said he hoped Libya could provide an alternative model for the region.
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