Political Participation & Leadership

The Constitutional Assembly will be charged with writing a new constitution for Libya and thus, activists have been concerned the proposed electoral law fails to be inclusive and comes up short with regards to promoting diversity and fully representing Libyan society.

Negotiations continue among the parties and blocs within the National Congress. Discussion has centered on three key areas: 1) the number of seats allocated to women and cultural minorities; 2) the electoral system; and 3) the distribution of electoral districts.

The women's bloc demands the allocation of 15 seats to women, a stipulation that was widely refuted by members of Congress. The National Congress put to vote a lesser proposal, allocating only six seats to women in the Constitutional Assembly, prompting the bloc to abstain during the vote.

A snapshot of different opinions being shared by various blocs:

Bloc of Justice and Building: Pushed to uphold the freedom of women to participate in elections of the Constitutional Assembly on the basis of the individual system while maintaining the six seats already allocated to women.

The Alliance of the National Forces: Proposed the adoption of the mixed system, i.e. the individual system and the zipper list system, contending it will ensure the desired balanced representation of women.

Bloc of Ya Biladi: Adopts the closed zipper list system, which it believes will guarantee 50 percent of seats in the Constitutional Assembly for women.

Bloc of Al-Wafa li dimaa Al-Shuhadaa (Remaining Faithful to the Blood of the Martyrs): Opposes a quota for women's representation in the Constitutional Assembly.

National Front Party: Calls for the extension of the Constitutional Assembly from 60 members to 90 members (60 elected and 30 appointed, 12 of which would be women).

In continuing negotiations, 10 seats were offered to the women's bloc, which were later reduced to six. Afterward, this number reverted back to 10. The 10 seats in question would be geographically divided as follows: four seats for the Eastern Region, four seats for the Southern Region, and two seats for the Western Region. The 10 seats are being offered on the condition that the zipper list system, which guarantees representation of women, youth, various cultural segments of society, special needs individuals, and a diversity of professions—is forfeited.

Women representatives in Congress face mounting pressure to approve the draft electoral law, despite its shortcomings in guaranteeing their representation in the Constitutional Assembly. Meanwhile, women activists have been holding sit-ins demanding members of Congress to activate the quota system and increase women's representation to 35 percent, sustaining the lobby for increased representation.

The Libyan Women's Platform for Peace (LWPP), along with a coalition of Libyan civil society organizations, coordinated a national campaign and lobby for a more inclusive electoral law, which launched in June at a two-day consultation organized in partnership with Karama. A corresponding campaign "Together Men and Women We Will Write Our Constitution" has also been launched.

Together, the LWPP and its partners have proposed a mixed electoral system which combines the individual system and the closed "zipper list" system to ensure the inclusive representation of the Constitutional Assembly. The proposal guarantees 24 women within the 60-member body of the Constitutional Assembly. Under this proposal, 48 seats of the assembly will be allocated to party lists, with alternating male and female candidates.
Before the July 8th session of Congress let out, several additional votes took place. Articles five and six were put to a vote, however the required quorum of 120 votes was not fulfilled. Thus, the articles were rejected at the time and are back on the negotiating table.

Only 86 out 135 members of the Congress voted in favor of the article devoting a quota of six seats for the cultural components and six seats for women.

Only 102 out of 135 members of the Congress voted in favor of the article pertaining to the individual voting system.

The article preventing members of parties from being nominated was removed. Hence, political parties will have individuals run in the elections on their behalf and represent them in the Constitutional Assembly. This creates a gray area, as it is difficult for voters to know whether they are voting for an individual candidate or the candidate's affiliated party.

The Libyan Womenʼs Platform for Peace was formed in partnership with Karama by leading women activists in October 2011 to serve as a networking movement of civil society groups throughout Libya. It convenes trainings, organizes advocacy activities, and serves as an information clearing house for women and youth activists and their allies throughout Libya. It comprises members from all regions of Libya, as well as nationals and members of the Libyan diaspora.

For the full proposal for an alternative elective law issued by the coalition of Libyan groups see below. For more information on the LWPP, please visit Facebook.