Will the Real Leader Please Stand Up

Libya literally has no organized authority at the moment. It has no parliament. Muammar al-Gaddafi is not and was not its president. It has no political parties. The strongest of its state ministries is oil.

First, let’s process this data. Imagine if it was like this in the United States (yes, it is a completely different culture and thus an impractical analogy, but humor me):

There would be no democrats or republicans--the elections (if any could be mustered), would be free-for-alls.

There would be no president or parliament, so elections would be pretty limited. I guess the board of education is important, but if there’s no president, who’s going to regulate it?

There would be no trade unions; good luck with labor laws.

There would be no nongovernmental agencies. And you thought your biggest worry was what group was left out/included too much in Obama’s healthcare bill.

No one would be allowed to speak against the country, or stand up for rights. There would be, for all intents and purposes, no leaders up to whom to look.

Personally, I would find that a little scary. Here’s what we’re looking at for leadership in Libya:

1. Moammar Khadafy (aka Muammar al-Gaddafi): Forty-two years ago, Gaddafi overthrew Libya’s monarchy. At first, the U.S. was okay with the coup, and with him, but he soon became highly anti-American and anti-British. He has a ton of money. He also has a ton of power; he was (in part) behind the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, when a plane bound for New York from London was bombed, killing passengers, crew, and people on the ground hit with the debris. Now he’s killing his own citizens.

Photo Courtesy of BlatantNews.com

Muammar al-Gaddafi, Libya's current leader

1. Mustafa Abdel-Jalil: He was the justice minister (note the irony of a justice minister under Gaddafi) up until last week. Now, he is forming a transitional government, based in the east (in Benghazi, the largest city in Libya and the site of many of the protests), made up of civilian and military figures. Libya’s ambassador to the U.S., Ali Aujali, supports him, though the U.S. State Department has yet to comment.

(I couldn’t find any pictures of him. Anywhere.)

1. Mohamed Shalgham: Serving as Libya’s ambassador to the UN, he initially supported Gaddafi as his friend. Now, he’s supporting UN sanctions against him.

By State Department photo by Michael Gross [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Mohamed Shalgham, who is now denouncing Gadaffi

After numerous Google News searches, those were the sole leaders with whom I came up. There was the occasional online media whiz, but there wasn’t the presence of an established pool of politicians and leaders to fall back on; even Egypt, when people were fretting that it had little leadership, it had an army willing to step up, it had ElBaradei, it had the Muslim Brotherhood (say what you will about it). It had a basic system off of which to go.

The one thing that I, personally, think will hold the Libyans together is the fact that they are all, now, united against someone who is being accused of committing crimes against humanity. The U.N. is now on their side, and will boost them up. Unlike the early days, they have passed the threshold from dissident citizens to an oppressed, borderline massacred, population. It’s horrible, it’s unimaginable, but it will bond them together.

Still, I hope that they are not so psychologically downtrodden that no more leaders can emerge, because what will happen if Abdel-Jalil takes office? Eventually, someone needs to replace him, even if not for 10 years. Someone started these protests, so there are people in this country who can take initiative. Hopefully soon, they will gain the confidence to speak up and make their own voices heard.