No Result
View All Result
Sunday, May 25, 2025
23 °c
Tripoli
24 ° Sat
24 ° Sun
  • Advertising
  • Contact
LibyaHerald
  • Home
  • Libya
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Magazine
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Register
SUBSCRIBE
  • Home
  • Libya
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Magazine
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Register
No Result
View All Result
LibyaHerald
No Result
View All Result
Home Elections Special

Party Profile: The National Forces Alliance

byGeorge Grant
July 5, 2012
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A
Party Profile: The National Forces Alliance

National Forces Alliance Banner

By George Grant.

Tripoli, 1 July:

A National Forces Alliance banner

The National Forces Alliance (NFA) is a coalition of 58 political parties supervised by the NTC’s former . . .[restrict]interim prime minister, Mahmoud Jibril. Although technically a political entity and not a party in itself, the NFA is standing as a single body in the 7 July elections.

The NFA is fielding 70 candidates across Libya, making it the second largest grouping after the Justice & Construction Party. Jibril serves as president of the NFA, and his office is comprised of a 12 person team. Faisal Krekshi, a gynaecologist by training, serves as General Secretary of the NFA, the organisation’s executive arm. The executive office is comprised of nine persons.

According to Krekshi, the NFA likes to think of itself as akin to a shadow government, and has teams working across a broad spectrum of policy areas, including healthcare, education, the economy and foreign policy.

RELATED POSTS

Aldabaiba mocks Saleh’s ‘‘imaginary’’ request for a unity government as intent to prolong Libya’s transition stage

Real obstacle to holding Libyan elections is not lack of security, but absence of consensual and fair electoral laws: Aldabaiba

The NFA is widely considered towards the more ‘liberal’ end of the political spectrum, but it does not describe itself as secularist. Jibril has said the NFA is a moderate Islamic movement that recognises the importance of Islam in political life and favours Sharia as the basis of the law.

On the economy, the NFA has spoken of the need for a “globalisation strategy”, cognisant of the fact that Libya is part of a globalised international community and cannot afford to operate in isolation.

“We need to encourage foreign investment into Libya for many reasons”, says Krekshi. “The country is underdeveloped in almost every sector, and foreign investment will open new opportunities for the training of young people, who make up 70 per cent of Libya’s population. We can also profit from their presence regarding future exports”.

Krekshi has described Libya as an enormously rich country with huge resources, “not just in oil and gas”. Libya, he say, has “huge amounts of land, a small population, and vast solar and wind-power potential. We are situated on the Mediterranean and we have a rich archaeological heritage suitable for tourism. We could also a major agricultural producer. Especially in the east on the border with Egypt, the soil has some of the highest concentrations of iron in the world.”

The NFA supports privatisation in principle, but emphasises that Libya needs to first focus on rebuilding its shattered infrastructure. “Take the example of Germany”, Krekshi says. “After the Second World War, they started from nothing. Libya needs its own Marshall Plan to develop a proper infrastructure. Then we can talk about privatisation”.

Krekshi has also said that the NFA supports the introduction of a minimum wage, although it has not yet stipulated at what amount this would be set. It also supports implementing a social security system more broadly in Libya.

The NFA is a strong supporter of decentralisation, but does not support federalism for the country. As examples of areas that should fall under the control of local councils, Krekshi cited education, healthcare and transport.

“We would also support a proportion of taxes raised in local areas being returned to local councils to spend as they see fit”, Krekshi says. “This would serve to both incentivise local councils and help local taxpayers to feel tangible benefits from their taxes”.

Additionally, Krekshi has indicated that the NFA would favour the creation special economic zones for towns and cities along Libya’s borders to encourage trade and to maximise their economic potential. “We have to recognise that different towns need different things”, he says. “They cannot all be treated the same way”.

Krekshi has said that Jibril is handling the NFA’s discussions with federalists in eastern Libya, and insists that “preliminary discussions are promising”.

In recent weeks, resentment has been growing in the east of the country over what is perceived as the unjust distribution of seats for the National Conference, and a perception that the authorities in Tripoli have been neglecting regional concerns. There have been growing rumours of a boycott of the elections by some people in eastern Libya if their grievances are not resolved within the next few days, although a widespread boycott remains unlikely.

The NFA has not come to a firm decision on whether to support a parliamentary or presidential system of government when the permanent constitution is created after the elections, but has said – somewhat enigmatically – that it wants to avoid any system which could lead “either to a monopoly on power or political gridlock”.

On the question of justice and reconciliation with former Qaddafi loyalists, the NFA believes strongly that justice must precede reconciliation. “I don’t know why people are creating confusion about this point”, Krekshi says. “You cannot have reconciliation without first having justice. We must establish a justice system that is clear, independent and effective. Once we have that, and justice has been done, then reconciliation can begin”.

Finally, on defence and foreign policy, the NFA favours the development of strong and capable armed forces, and argues that Libya must be pragmatic in its relations with other countries. “There can be no emotion in politics”, Krekshi says. “We must put the interests of Libya first. Definitely, we will be more open to cooperation with those countries who supported us in the revolution, but we will also deal with Russia and China as an interest of the state.” The NFA will also seek constructive relations with all of its regional neighbours, particularly on issues of border security.

With regards to the Israel-Palestine conflict, the NFA’s position is to “support the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) with whatever decisions they make”.

The National Forces Alliance website can be found at www.nff.ly

George Grant can be followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GeorgePBGrant [/restrict]

Tags: 7 JulyelectionsfeaturedJibrilNational Forces Alliance

Related Posts

Transport Ministry meets Japanese company North Star interested in investing in Libya
Business

Tripoli Transport Minister seeking to activate Transit Roads to Niger and Sudan

December 5, 2024
HNEC ratifies final results – no change
Elections Special

HNEC ratifies final results – no change

August 2, 2012
Elections Special

Martin hails elections “an extrordinary accomplishment”; proposes modernisation of Libyan police force

July 23, 2012
Elected members of the National Congress by constituency – full list
Elections Special

Elected members of the National Congress by constituency – full list

July 4, 2014
Mohammed Sawan signals retreat over previous stance towards National Forces Alliance
Elections Special

Mohammed Sawan signals retreat over previous stance towards National Forces Alliance

July 20, 2012
Elections Special

Interview with the Honorable Najeib Rabti, member of the Election Commission and an appointed representative of the Supreme Judiciary Council

July 18, 2012
Next Post
Mass food poisoning outbreak in Derna

Mass food poisoning outbreak in Derna

Preparations continue for the Libyan International Conference on e-government 14-15 July 2012

ADVERTISEMENT

Top Stories

  • Tripoli airport closed on Friday for maintenance

    Tripoli International Airport to open to private flights and ambulance flights

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • ‘‘For the first time, Libyans have hope to get rid of these militias, and the dream of the rule of law and institutions is almost a reality soon’’: Aldabaiba

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Largest direct reduced iron (DRI) factory in the world to be established by Turkish company Tosyali in Benghazi

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Libyan European Forum for Oil, Gas and Energy held in Malta from 15 to 16 May

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Mitiga airport reopened, flights operating including to and from Istanbul, Alexandria and Cairo

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
ADVERTISEMENT
LibyaHerald

The Libya Herald first appeared on 17 February 2012 – the first anniversary of the Libyan Revolution. Since then, it has become a favourite go-to source on news about Libya, for many in Libya and around the world, regularly attracting millions of hits.

Recent News

Agriculture Ministry Undersecretary visits South Korea‎ – discusses establishing tractor factory

Committee for Libya Africa Transit Corridors Project convened with Niger Chargé d’affaires – agree to develop MoU

Sitemap

  • Why subscribe?
  • Terms & Conditions
  • FAQs
  • Copyright & Intellectual Property Rights
  • Subscribe now

Newsletters

    Be the first to know latest important news & events directly to your inbox.

    Sending ...

    By signing up, I agree to our TOS and Privacy Policy.

    © 2022 LibyaHerald - Powered by Sparx Solutions.

    Welcome Back!

    Login to your account below

    Forgotten Password? Sign Up

    Create New Account!

    Fill the forms below to register

    *By registering into our website, you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
    All fields are required. Log In

    Retrieve your password

    Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

    Log In
    No Result
    View All Result
    • Login
    • Sign Up
    • Libya
    • Business
    • Advertising
    • About us
    • BusinessEye Magazine
    • Letters
    • Features
    • Why subscribe?
    • FAQs
    • Contact

    © 2022 LibyaHerald - Powered by Sparx Solutions.

    This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.