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By Sami Zaptia.
Tripoli, 14 October 2014:
There are signs that the Al-Beida-based Abdullah Thinni government and the Tobruk-based and internationally recognised House . . .[restrict]of Representatives (HoR) are beginning to lose de facto and political legitimacy in Tripoli.
With the abandoning of Tripoli by the HoR government and the convening of the HoR in Tobruk, as well as the total “withdrawal” of the Zintani-led militias from Tripol, the capital was completely given up to the Libya Dawn faction earlier this summer.
This total withdrawal by the pro-HoR political and military forces had left a huge power, political and security vacuum which has been to a varying extent filled by the anti-HoR Libyan Dawn bloc.
The acute security, fuel, cooking gas, electricity and bread crises that precipitated as a result of the militia fighting in Tripoli this summer has been almost totally resolved.
Except for the cases of kidnappings, security has improved markedly. Armed crime, theft and robbery as well as car jackings are down and people are more prepared to drive out at night and in their more expensive cars over the last few weeks.
Tripoli Council has taken the lead in alleviating the capital’s crises by systematically solving each problem with little assets or finance and by using small groups of patriotic volunteers, a Tripoli Council source explained on condition of anonymity.
Worryingly for the Tobruk-based legitimate government of Abdullah Al-Thinni and the internationally recognized HoR, the sources at Tripoli Council admitted freely that they have been working closely and without reservations with the Al-Hassi government and Libya Dawn during this crises period.
The source explained that those at Tripoli Council had a duty to serve the interests of the residents of Greater Tripoli and that they were prepared to work with anyone who would improve the conditions in Tripoli – from whichever political stream, the source admitted.
However, the source went on to admit that whilst the Thinni government and HoR might enjoy legal legitimacy, in reality they had nothing practical or tangible to offer to residents of Tripoli.
The source said that on the ground neither the Thinni government nor the HoR could affect change. They were not able to provide security for petrol stations, they were not able to end the cooking gas crises, nor the bakery crises or improve electricity supply and reduce power cuts to almost zero.
De facto, Al-Beida and Tobruk had nothing to offer residents of Tripoli, especially since they had no budget to offer, the source explained.
Whilst admitting that neither the Al-Hassi government nor Libya Dawn were the ones who solved these problems, the Tripoli Council source felt that public perception by many Tripoli residents was that Tripoli had come out of a crises of supply and have somehow attributed this success to the power on the ground – the Al-Hassi government and Libya Dawn.
Moreover, some residents in Tripoli are now associating the former crises with the Zintani-led militias and some now believe that the various crises were artificial, created by the Zintani-led political bloc and or their militias.
In short, the source said that Al-Beida and Tobruk were for practical purposes becoming irrelevant for residents of Greater Tripoli.
However, the source did agree that once the remnants of Tripoli Council’s budget runs out, the need for a legitimate government that would provide a new budget for Tripoli Council in order that it can continue to provide services for its residents would become imperative. [/restrict]
