By Umar Khan.
15 May, Tripoli:
Another new party has been . . .[restrict]established: the Taghyeer Party. The launch ceremony, which took place on Tueday at Tripoli’s Radisson Mehary hotel, was attended by more than 300 people from different parts of Libya. According to Guma el Gamaty, who is a member of the founding committee, it is a nationalist party and aims to represent all regions of Libya. Guma was the former coordinator of National Transitional Council based in the UK.
Guma told the Libya Herald that while the party was not contesting in the upcoming general congress elections scheduled for June 19, it might support independent candidates.
Talking about his role in the party, he said that it was a collective effort of many different people and he was only one of the founding members. Asked if he had also invited other major figuress to join the party, he said that the focus is to build a new party with the participation of common man but anybody is welcome to join the party.
The other founding members of the party, Abdallah Sirat and Rania Furjani, also addressed the launch. Sirat stressed the need to focus energy on building the future state, saying that Libya was a precious country. He also said that the party believed in a free, just, democratic, secure and stable state.
Speaking on the role of youth, Furjani said that Libyans had to change in order to move forward. Taghyeer, she said, was a simple party with its aim to make Libya a safe place for everybody to live in freely.
The launch ceremony was somewhat different to those of other parties recently. There was music with two performances by school children singing national songs which met with a huge round of applause. The religious base was also covered when a young boy gave a speech citing Quranic examples and emphasized the importance of change.
Speaking at the ceremony, Guma thanked all the organizers and said that Libyans should not forget the real heroes, some of whom were present but others were not. Many in the audience became very emotional and tears were shed.
Guma said that Libyans had to work keeping the future in mind. The party vision was to strategize and work hard to make Libya what its people wanted it to be in the next 20 years. He said the party was working on the vision of “Libya 2030”. He also said that it was the party of youth; they were the power and the future of the country. They all had to work together to make Libya a country of which all it citizens could be proud.
Guma also added that the Taghyeer party was an inclusive party and wanted Libya to be a progressive country by all standards. The membership was open to people from all walks of life. He also said that the party was neither religious nor secular but nationalist and at the same time it respects the religious and cultural heritage and traditions of Libya. He also said that the Taghyeer Party was a modern and progressive party based on the principles of democracy, equality and transparency.
Speaking about the institutions of the state he said that the party supported a free and independent media. He also added that the civil society organizations should be active in all areas as they played a very important role by keeping a check on the government.
He stated that the Taghyeer party believed in equality and that there should be no difference between Tripoli and Benghazi or any other city. Libya is one country, he said, and all citizens should enjoy same facilities regardless of the fact where they lived. He emphasized that Libya needed good governance and transparency to progress.
Guma concluded by saying that the offices would shortly be opened in all cities to spread the party’s message.
Umar Khan can be found at twitter.com/umarnkhan [/restrict]
