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By Libya Herald reporter.
Tobruk, 20 November 2014:
The House of Representatives (HoR) is in the final stages of amending the controversial Political . . .[restrict]Isolation Law (PIL) passed by the GNC a year and a half ago. At the time it was seen as being voted through under pressure by Islamists and various revolutionary groups in Tripoli.
The law banned anyone from holding office for ten years who had held a leading position in the Qaddafi regime at any time from his seizure of power in 1969. It resulted in numerous political figures, some of whom who had been some of the main leaders of the revolution, being ”isolated”, including the chairman of the National Transitional Council Mustafa Abdul Jalil, transitional prime minister Mahmoud Jibril and the first President of the General National Council Mohamed Magarief. However, others who had collaborated with the Qaddafi regime, even just before the revolution, were spared – some of them now major figures in the forces in power in Tripoli.
It became clear that the HoR would review the law following the elections in June in which the Islamists lost decisively. The president of the HoR, Ageela Salah, formerly a senior judge, had expressed his intention to push for the law to be reviewed and amended in several interviews.
Another reason for amending the law is the position of the leader of Operation Dignity, General Khalifa Hafter. More than 50 members of the HoR are reported to have signed a petition to name him as Commander in Chief of the armed forces. Although many others in the HoR are opposed to such a move and will probably block it because of his links with the former Qaddafi regime, the PIL currently prevents him from holding the post. It is one of the reasons the process to amend the PIL has been fast tracked.
The amendment to the law is expected to return to the previous situation under which only those who joined the revolution after 19 March 2011, when the UN Security Council voted to inmpose a no-fly zone over Libya, would be isolated.
The review of the law is still with the HoR’s Legislation Committee but it is expected to be presented to the full house next week. It is said to want the law to be part of of future national dialogue negotiations. [/restrict]
