I earlier blogged that our troops were dying to prop up a floundering and corrupt regime under the US-installed Afghan president, Hamid Karzai. I suggested that it reminded me of a Carry on Film “Carry on Up the Khyber” and a Sultan named Kharzi who also turned out to be a bit of a s**t too.
Listening to the news this morning when the newsreader corpsed and began giggling as he read his autocue to report that the Libyan Prime Minister Abu Shagur (snigger, snigger) had been sacked from the new Libyan Parliament and the government was in disarray.
This sad writer (c’est moi) immediately brought to mind that iconic film “Life of Brian” and although Libya is left in a state of disarray without firm governance as it copes with warring militias, a moribund economy and the fallout from last month’s killing of US ambassador Chris Stevens. I am afraid that I too began to snigger just thinking of the film, when Brian said “There’s no pleasing some people” and the beggar replied “That’s just what Jesus said”.
Attempting to be less flippant I turned to The Saudi Gazette for more responsible reporting. Most of Abushagur’s staunch opposition to the Gaddafi regime has been carried out from various universities in the USA where he has received multiple research awards and grants from several federal agencies, such as National Aeronautics and Space Agency, National Science Foundation, Department of Defence and the Federal Aviation Administration. Obviously highly qualified as a politician.
Mustafa Abushagur was first elected Prime Minister on September 12th 2012 and was voted out on October 7th 2012. (hello, is that The Guiness Book of Records?) He was given the golden opportunity to serve as Libya’s first elected Prime Minister after the 17 February revolution but unfortunately due to his lack of experience and weak performance did not take advantage of it.
It is obvious to me that the choice of Libyans to high political positions who lived most of their lives outside of Libya and had achieved excellent academic experience but lack the political will and knowhow is not working for the Libyan public. These figures can win the opinions of some people, but after their engagement in their jobs lose all confidence as they show their real motives and lack of leadership.
It is true and obvious that the Libyans who lived away from Libya during the Qaddafi regime are eager to compensate themselves by holding power in Libya and rewarding themselves for shunning Qaddafi and Libya for all those years. But they forgot the main point which is that most Libyans did not have that luxury and lived their lives in Libya under the cruel rule of Qaddafi for more than four decades.
They forgot that those Libyans who lived in Libya deserve the prize of holding high positions and understand each other more than the Libyans who did not taste their suffering from inside the country. Abushagur was not up to the task from the beginning. His decision to please his main supporters in the GNC (Muslim Brotherhood) and his own group (National Front of Salvation of Libya – NFSL) which he and National Congress President Mohamed Magarief belonged to.
It is simply not true to brand all Libyans who lived in Libya under Qaddafi as unfit to rule, otherwise Libya will only be served by a small minority who have no relationship to the country and the population they are governing. “Always look on the bright side off life.”
