Like many people in Jordan and elsewhere I have been glued to the TV reporting and the Twitter feeds coming from Libya. Although there are pockets of resistance, the end of the Libyan people’s nightmare is not far away. The sooner Qadhafi is captured the better. We have watched, fascinated, as history was made in Martyrs Square and Bab Al-Aziziya as the Free Libyan Forces got the outcome the vast majority of Libyans have clearly wanted for years. They have thrown off 40 years of dictatorship with great courage, commitment and dignity.
The international community has played a role in supporting this successful campaign by protecting Libyan civilians from the slaughter that Qadhafi and his tyrannical regime intended to inflict upon them. The way a range of countries with different interests worked closely together to co-ordinate their efforts has been unprecedented. GCC and Arab League countries have been closely involved. The UK has worked with the French, Italians and other Western and Arab allies at the UN and with NATO to save the lives of countless innocent civilians. The decision to intervene was not taken lightly but was clearly necessary, legal and right.
The UK will continue to offer its support and assistance to the Libyan authorities as they confront the challenges of the future. The fundamental point here is that the future of Libya is Libyan-owned and must therefore be Libyan-led. We have learned the lessons of the past: military action was mandated by the UN and foreign forces have not taken part in the fighting. The crucial decisions on how Libya will move to a free, democratic and inclusive country are now for the Libyans themselves. The role of the international community will be to offer political and public support for the Libyan people as they confront the challenges of the future.
And these challenges are huge. One priority will be to establish new political institutions based on free speech, the rule of law and an open, democratic society. Another will be to mend the economy and to use Libya’s considerable wealth in a way that Qadhafi deliberately and cynically failed to do: to bring prosperity to all the people of Libya by providing jobs, education, health and welfare. There will also be a need to bring security and stability to the country. The new institutions will have to ensure that all Libyans know that the authorities are working for their benefit and not just one family and their cronies.
Managing people’s expectations will be hard. The euphoria over the overthrow of a tyrant and the end of a nightmare is fully justified. But it will take time to rebuild Libya and create the open, secure and prosperous society the Libyan want and deserve. There will be huge hurdles to overcome and patience will be needed. The National Transitional Council is ready to assume its role as an interim authority and has set out its plans for the transition. The crucial factor will be the unity of the Libyan people in their desire to mend their broken country.
This successful revolution underlines the key messages behind the series of uprisings in the Arab world this year: how to bring dignity to ordinary people; how to make them feel that their voice counts; how to convince their political leaders that they have to listen to the will of the people or be moved aside. This message needs to be heard in Damascus too, where another autocratic ruler is using military force against innocent civilians. The Libyan people have spoken; the Syrian people also have a voice.