Dismal democrats

AS THE country went to the polls on June 25th to elect a parliament for only the second time since the fall of Muammar Qaddafi in 2011, you could be forgiven for thinking that Libyans had fallen out of love with democracy. Compared with the inky-fingered celebrations that marked the first elections two years ago, the mood was glum. Only 1.5m people in a population of 6m had registered to vote, compared with 2.8m in 2012. Turnout was only 630,000, according to officials.

Given the widespread anger directed at the discredited national congress which the new 200-member body will replace, the lack of interest in voting to get rid of it was striking. But three years after the overthrow of their dictator, many Libyans have become cynical about democracy, believing that real power is vested not in fledgling state institutions but in the patchwork of militias that emerged during and after the uprising of 2011. Many militias have entwined themselves with politicians and criminals. Insecurity has left ordinary people feeling fearful and helpless. In Benghazi, Libya’s second city, the election took place against a grim backdrop of fighting. A prominent human-rights campaigner, Salwa Bughaighis, was shot dead in her home in the city on polling day.

“Democracy is a nice idea but security is more important for us than democracy,” said a Benghazi resident who supports Khalifa Haftar, a former general who last month declared his own war on eastern Libya’s Islamist militias and on politicians he accused of backing them. Since then, several army units and militias have rallied to his cause.

The ensuing violence has been some of the worst Libya has had since 2011. Mr Haftar, accused by the authorities in Tripoli, the capital, of attempting a coup, professes democratic beliefs but many of his former allies are sceptical. Having at first been against holding an election this month, the 71-year-old Mr Haftar later said his forces would observe a ceasefire to let it happen.

The make-up and ideological complexion of the new parliament are hard to predict because all the seats were contested individually, whereas 80 out of 200 seats in the previous proto-parliament were allocated to parties competing on national lists. The liberal-leaning National Forces Alliance won most of them in 2012, ahead of the Muslim Brotherhood-linked Justice and Construction Party. But because the Brothers proved better at making alliances with independents, their Islamist-led blocs were the strongest in the congress.

Libya’s political novices feel bruised by the partisan squabbling that has paralysed the congress and caused public support for it to plunge. The Islamists may have been hurt most. Few of them were recently elected to a commission to write a constitution. The Brotherhood’s brand is now so toxic that many candidates have tried to tarnish their rivals by accusing them of belonging to the movement. Some say the new parliament will have a more tribal hue.

Whatever its composition, it faces daunting challenges. An almost year-old blockade of the country’s oil facilities by militias has cost $30 billion in revenue. A decision earlier this year to locate the newly elected body in Benghazi means that parliament will sit at the hub of Mr Haftar’s “war on terrorism”, with no guarantee that security will be any better than it was in Tripoli, where ministries and the cabinet will stay put. It is uncertain, in any case, whether Libya’s myriad armed power-brokers will accept the election’s results.