Is the Election in Libya Legitimate?

Can the ballot box and the ballot paper - whatever its color - be put into the ballot box, show that there are elections in that country? It certainly doesn't show. Above all, at the very least, elections must be held under fair supervision and control. In some countries, including Turkey, elections are held under the supervision of an independent and impartial judiciary, while in some countries such as the USA, elections are held under the supervision of the public administration. In addition, it is desirable that UN observers fulfill their auditing duties in the elections. Is that all? Of course not. Civil initiative also shows up in elections. Such as the Human Rights Association (İHD), the Watch for Equal Rights Association (ESHİD). What is sought is to determine whether there are democratic elections in that country. What needs to be done is to observe the election with an impartial and independent eye. Despite this being the case, among the non-governmental organizations that follow the elections, there are also those who carry out harmful activities. When you go into this business in depth, you may be faced with some situations in astonishment. However, NGOs are generally helpful. Election observation is for democracy, rule of law, promotion of human rights and for the elections to be held in a democratic environment, for all citizens to benefit from the right to vote and to be elected with equal opportunities. So what is a democratic election then?

A democratic election is a competitive election of voters with equal political rights and parties with the same legal status under fair and free conditions. If this is not the case, it is not an election, but a choice for show, so to speak, a theater of elections. Democratic elections have to be competitive. Those who aspire to the government compete in an equal and democratic environment, both individually and at the party level. It is an organized group of people who try to control the executive and the government in order to implement the political party program and bring its members to power. (1) Is it possible to imagine a contemporary competitive political life without a political party? Of course it is unthinkable. Undoubtedly, political parties are rivals of each other. They work to gain an edge over each other. This means that every party theoretically goes to elections with the hope and chance of coming to power on a local and national scale. One of the indispensable features of a democratic form of government is the "accountability" in the political science literature.

If this does not happen, irresponsibility and flattery will prevail in that society. Those who cannot be questioned about their wisdom, who are not held to account or cannot be asked, cause endless chaos. It is a dangerous situation. As a result of all these, the place that is essential to reach is the line of legitimacy and legitimacy. Democracy is a game, it's a game theory. If democracy is a game, elections are the arena of this game. It's like football, like volleyball, like basketball. In the middle of the game, the rules cannot be rejected or changed. In addition, at the end of the game, it is not possible to ignore the concrete results of the rules. The rules are written in the Election Law, it is accepted from the beginning and can be played. During selection, neither the rule nor the player can be changed until the results are announced. The general rule of democracy is that those who come with the election go with the election. Therefore, those who come out of the ballot box have the authority to make public decisions at the local and national level. (2) Only the legitimacy gained can be preserved in this way.

Now, after all these descriptions and theoretical framework, let's examine the elections in Libya, which could not be made, which could not be put on track, the game that was fictionalized in Libya and its future.

First of all, the most important thing to ask in Libya is the issue of postponing the elections, which could not be held on December 24, 2021. In this case, the question is ready. Isn't it necessary to ask now? What happened, why did the elections, which could not be held for 42 years, been postponed? To put it briefly, for technical reasons, to put it in fashion. The word technical covers a lot of things, but let's say the main reason is for the reasons of a special editing behind closed doors. No, I didn't pass it on. I will try to explain this situation in detail. Before we get into the subject, let's state this bare truth in capital letters. In Libya, where the intellectuality is at a high level compared to the Arab countries, one thing is well understood after all this suffering and experience. What's that? The fact that the crisis experienced after the civil war that has been going on since 2011, which the EU(D) agitated, can no longer be solved by military means, has come to mind. It is a fact accepted by everyone that with the intervention of Turkey, Haftar's military defeat in the south of Tripoli became the turning point of this work. In other words, the emerging new situation has paved the way for the current political solution, as Turkey supports the legitimate government as necessary and on legitimate grounds. Apart from this, the presence of Turkey in Libya has established confidence in Libya's evolution into a democratic system and has accelerated the process of voters' participation in the democratic participation process. 

In Libya, 98 of which is desert, 63% of the population lives in the Tripoli region in the west of Libya, 28% in the east and 9% in the south. Although Haftar manages a larger area in the east and south of Libya, the majority of the population opposing him is concentrated in the West. Considering that almost half of the population is also against Haftar in the east and south of the country, it seems unlikely that Haftar will win if a fair and transparent political election is held. In this case, a studio project is needed to bring Haftar to power under the guise of so-called democracy.

By the way, let's say that the registration of 2.8 million people concentrated in the cities in the 24 December elections, which was postponed with the contribution of Turkey, was an important success. Undoubtedly, it is difficult to say that the voter registration was fully manifested in the previous elections held before the "Civil War" ended. For example, in the 2014 elections for the current House of Representatives, the voting rate was only 18%. In some cities far from the center, 30-40 votes, in some even a few hundred votes, were able to become proxies. (3) This is why democratic legitimacy in Libya has always been discussed until today. The fact that 2.8 million people registered as voters with the support of Turkey is indeed a great success, and it is thought that the democratic institutionalization after the preparation of the constitution, the parliament to be held after the referendum and the local elections, can resolve the endless legitimacy debates in Libya in the new democratic process.

Is it possible to bring Haftar to power after the Civil War with a fait accompli? For this purpose, it can be clearly chosen that there is an editing. The starting point for this is that the "Election Law" was made, or rather the House of Representatives was used for this purpose, with the suppression of Hafter before the Constitution was made and the referendum was held. In other words, the fact that Haftar had the House of Representatives convened illegally and had the Election Law enacted, while he was under numerical control of the House of Representatives, constituted the beginning of this fiction. In fact, when viewed with the naked eye, Haftar's desire to 'not have' honest elections has even been fictionalized as if he 'wanted' an election. While this perception focuses on Haftar's election as President, it is clearly understood that it serves the perception that Haftar is in favor of the election, both in Libya and in the world public opinion. When viewed, the House of Representatives preferred to carry out a unilateral process, while it was supposed to carry out the legislative function with the Libyan State Supreme Council according to the "Libya Political Agreement". This shows the playmaker role of Haftar under the guidance of the EU(D).

The game is so professionally constructed that it shows that it is possible for Haftar to be elected President without a Constitution or a parliament to oversee the executive. So much so that when the plan is implemented as designed, it ensures that Hafter, more precisely, the EU(D) will be able to meet all his demands. Since this situation is clearly evident, how can it be ensured that it can be brought back to the beginning again? It is indeed difficult. The abolition of the Election Law, which is alleged to have been enacted when there is no Libyan Constitution, also dictates that it would be extremely difficult to come back to the beginning, according to the non-existent system.

Another imposition is that Haftar is a US citizen. In fact, Haftar was chosen and sent to Libya as the problematic of the deadlock that will be experienced and kept alive in Libya at all levels. Just like the imposition of the Fener Greek Patriarch by the US citizen Athenagoras. During the CHP rule, the USA sent its citizen Athenagoras to Turkey with President Truman's private plane "Number One" in 1948 and demanded that he be elected as Fener Greek Patriarch. Directly imposed. Reason? The reason is clear. Because "the rule that the patriarch should be elected from among Turkish citizens" emerged as an obstacle. Based on the fact that Athenagoras was born in Ioannina and that Ioannina was within the borders of the Ottoman State at the time of his birth, he was granted Turkish citizenship. Later, Athenagoras became the Greek Patriarch of Fener. (4) In fact, the Turkish bureaucracy has shown the ability to solve this problem without mixing meat and milk.

Let's come to the current situation of Haftar. In order for Haftar to be a candidate for the Presidency, he must resign from his current "duty" with the rank of "Marshal". This applies to a normal Libyan citizen. Another situation is that the issue of Haftar's being a US citizen, just like Patriarch Athenagoras, has been adapted to the book. In an environment where, according to the Libyan Election Law, dual citizens are prevented from being candidates in the elections, that is, the fact that Haftar aspires to the Libyan presidency despite his American citizenship dictates another interesting situation.

After all this, Tripoli-based Supreme Council of State Chairman Khalid Mishri, who constitutes a part of the legislature, emphasized the necessity of the elections and expressed an emotional 

It was in this climate that he declared that they would not accept war criminals like Haftar, after listing a series of lawlessness in a similar way. At the end of his speech, Mshri called for an election boycott. Here, sir, dear readers, did we fully grasp the parameters of the election and legitimacy in Libya? Can you get up now and say that's how it is?

Footnotes

(1) Bülent Daver, Introduction to Political Science, 4.B., Ankara, 1976, p. 223

(2) Atilla Yayla, “Elections and democratic legitimacy” Yeni Şafak Newspaper, 29 March 2014; https://www.yenisafak.com/yazarlar/atilla-yayla/secimler-ve-demokratik-meruiyet-51041/Access Date13.02.2022/

(3) Murat Aslan, What's Happening in Libya? Sabah Newspaper, January 15, 2022; https://www.sabah.com.tr/yazarlar/perspektif/murat-aslan/2022/01/15/libyada-neler-oluğu /Access Date13.02.2022/

(4) Ahmet Hikmet Eroğlu, “Why the Imposition of Heybeliada?”, Türk Yurdu Magazine, May 2009 - Year 98 - Issue 261, p.1