I have long said that in the post-Gaddafi Libya, members of the Gaddafi family, for instance, Dr. Saif al Islam Gaddafi, and Gaddafi cousin (Ahmed) Gaddaf Al-Dam, should have some role in the future of Libya.
Unfortunately for those who desire a complete sea change from the past, they ARE in a position that they know of Libyan politics, how to make the diverse groups work with one another (albeit, during the regime years, sheer terror, imprisonment, and other tactics were used in order to ensure cooperation).
But in some ways, they are in a unique position. Having run parts of the country, they know what it takes. As long as Libya does not revert back to a totalitarian regime, I see no issues with allowing them the CHANCE to run for political office. There are no guarantees they would win in a FAIR election. There are also no guarantees that they would not, either.
That's the danger in a democracy. An unpopular, even DANGEROUS candidate may win an election. After all, it happened last year here in the United States. Quite possibly the worst candidate in this history's electoral history WON.
I can only hope in the Libyan political system, no electoral college exists, whether at present time, or any time in the future. That truly, the will of the people comes to pass, and not the whims of an antiquated, horrible system designed to do one thing (ensure smaller states are equally represented) but actually accomplishing something else (the will of the people completely ignored).
The world is different than it was in the past. The son, perhaps learning from his father's mistakes, could properly govern the country at this time. The son, perhaps being more liberal than his father (which reminds me of the saying, "a liberal in Texas is still a conservative elsewhere.") could enact changes that Libyans want.
Quite frankly, the son has never had a chance to lead. Any reforms he tried to put in place, any criticisms he had of his father in his independent newspaper, were ultimately destroyed by his father. He could be quite capable of doing so, and let's face it: it's not like he could be much worse than anyone else who's presently in power.
I don't know what Dr. Gaddafi's role should be. I do believe, though, that he should be allowed to at least TRY. That's what living in freedom means: allowing all to run, even if they're unpopular.
He is an architect by trade, and from what I've heard from those who studied with him, he's got an eye for modernization. I have heard that he had some hand in the design of the Al Fateh Tower, which may or may not be accurate. The buildings destroyed in Tripoli and elsewhere could be rebuilt, the city could rise like a phoenix.
There could and should be parks built, especially on the grounds of where the Gaddafi family had their fortress. But so, too, must there be a "Libyan White House"-- an OFFICIAL residence for the leadership, owned by the state, so as to give the office a bit of legitimacy, of permanence.
Term limits will obviously need to be in place, to prevent a return to dictatorship. Here in the United States, a president is limited to two, elected 8 year terms. That means, for example, if Trump were impeached and his VP became the new POTUS, Mike Pence could be elected twice on his own (unless the term he served was more than two years of the prior president's term). That's pretty unlikely to take place, as it hasn't happened in US history. When Andrew Johnson became president upon the assassination of Lincoln, he was nearly impeached, not reelected, etc. Same thing with LBJ after Kennedy's murder, and Gerald Ford after Nixon's resignation. They served out the rest of the term and were elected to one additional term.
There also becomes the issue of Dr. Gaddafi being wanted by the World Court at The Hague, should he be elected. While other heads of state have been under indictment for similar crimes (i.e., Omar Al Bashir of Sudan), it also impedes their efforts to build their country and build diplomatic relations with other countries. So to have such an impediment with a country in need of rebuilding, welllllll... would definitely make things difficult for Gaddafi 2.0.
There is the question of, "is he fit for the position?" This isn't necessarily a question of physical fitness, because he appears to be extremely physically healthy (albeit missing a few digits on one hand, LOL). There's the question of mental fitness. On one hand, we don't see him Tweeting ad nauseam like the POTUS, but on the other, he IS still a Gaddafi and his father's son. On the same hand, he is his mother's son, and by all reports, she was a caring, dutiful mother, and I would have to say, when she lost sons, grandchildren, her grief was real, palpable, and sympathy inducing. During the 17th of February revolution, he (Dr. G) had a choice to make-- stand with his convictions or stand with his family, as a puppet. He chose the latter. And is under indictment because of it. Whether or not it was under duress, under threat of imprisonment or worse, that isn't 100% clear. Upon listening to his now infamous finger wagging speech on Libyan TV, it did sound like voices in the background were feeding him lines when he'd deviate off of the party line.
Time will tell.
It does appear that he's not the man his father was, and I mean that in a good way.
See Gaddafi son Saif plots return (apparently, The Guardian newspaper in the UK and myself agree on some things. Which, considering I am technically centre-left and their articles tend to lean that way, isn't surprising).
Unfortunately for those who desire a complete sea change from the past, they ARE in a position that they know of Libyan politics, how to make the diverse groups work with one another (albeit, during the regime years, sheer terror, imprisonment, and other tactics were used in order to ensure cooperation).
But in some ways, they are in a unique position. Having run parts of the country, they know what it takes. As long as Libya does not revert back to a totalitarian regime, I see no issues with allowing them the CHANCE to run for political office. There are no guarantees they would win in a FAIR election. There are also no guarantees that they would not, either.
That's the danger in a democracy. An unpopular, even DANGEROUS candidate may win an election. After all, it happened last year here in the United States. Quite possibly the worst candidate in this history's electoral history WON.
I can only hope in the Libyan political system, no electoral college exists, whether at present time, or any time in the future. That truly, the will of the people comes to pass, and not the whims of an antiquated, horrible system designed to do one thing (ensure smaller states are equally represented) but actually accomplishing something else (the will of the people completely ignored).
The world is different than it was in the past. The son, perhaps learning from his father's mistakes, could properly govern the country at this time. The son, perhaps being more liberal than his father (which reminds me of the saying, "a liberal in Texas is still a conservative elsewhere.") could enact changes that Libyans want.
Quite frankly, the son has never had a chance to lead. Any reforms he tried to put in place, any criticisms he had of his father in his independent newspaper, were ultimately destroyed by his father. He could be quite capable of doing so, and let's face it: it's not like he could be much worse than anyone else who's presently in power.
I don't know what Dr. Gaddafi's role should be. I do believe, though, that he should be allowed to at least TRY. That's what living in freedom means: allowing all to run, even if they're unpopular.
He is an architect by trade, and from what I've heard from those who studied with him, he's got an eye for modernization. I have heard that he had some hand in the design of the Al Fateh Tower, which may or may not be accurate. The buildings destroyed in Tripoli and elsewhere could be rebuilt, the city could rise like a phoenix.
There could and should be parks built, especially on the grounds of where the Gaddafi family had their fortress. But so, too, must there be a "Libyan White House"-- an OFFICIAL residence for the leadership, owned by the state, so as to give the office a bit of legitimacy, of permanence.
Term limits will obviously need to be in place, to prevent a return to dictatorship. Here in the United States, a president is limited to two, elected 8 year terms. That means, for example, if Trump were impeached and his VP became the new POTUS, Mike Pence could be elected twice on his own (unless the term he served was more than two years of the prior president's term). That's pretty unlikely to take place, as it hasn't happened in US history. When Andrew Johnson became president upon the assassination of Lincoln, he was nearly impeached, not reelected, etc. Same thing with LBJ after Kennedy's murder, and Gerald Ford after Nixon's resignation. They served out the rest of the term and were elected to one additional term.
There also becomes the issue of Dr. Gaddafi being wanted by the World Court at The Hague, should he be elected. While other heads of state have been under indictment for similar crimes (i.e., Omar Al Bashir of Sudan), it also impedes their efforts to build their country and build diplomatic relations with other countries. So to have such an impediment with a country in need of rebuilding, welllllll... would definitely make things difficult for Gaddafi 2.0.
There is the question of, "is he fit for the position?" This isn't necessarily a question of physical fitness, because he appears to be extremely physically healthy (albeit missing a few digits on one hand, LOL). There's the question of mental fitness. On one hand, we don't see him Tweeting ad nauseam like the POTUS, but on the other, he IS still a Gaddafi and his father's son. On the same hand, he is his mother's son, and by all reports, she was a caring, dutiful mother, and I would have to say, when she lost sons, grandchildren, her grief was real, palpable, and sympathy inducing. During the 17th of February revolution, he (Dr. G) had a choice to make-- stand with his convictions or stand with his family, as a puppet. He chose the latter. And is under indictment because of it. Whether or not it was under duress, under threat of imprisonment or worse, that isn't 100% clear. Upon listening to his now infamous finger wagging speech on Libyan TV, it did sound like voices in the background were feeding him lines when he'd deviate off of the party line.
Time will tell.
It does appear that he's not the man his father was, and I mean that in a good way.
See Gaddafi son Saif plots return (apparently, The Guardian newspaper in the UK and myself agree on some things. Which, considering I am technically centre-left and their articles tend to lean that way, isn't surprising).
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