‘Government can’t be trusted’

Muftah Lamlum and Magda Koukab protested for, cheered on and eventually welcomed the revolution in Libya. One year since the start of that process, they speak to Sarah Carabott about their Libya today.

Libya needs at least five years to emerge from the situation Muammar Gaddafi left it in and five more to become a healthy country, according to a prospective candidate for Libya’s National Transitional Council, Muftah Lamlum.

“Gaddafi left Libya a backward country. It is worse than the way he found it 40 years ago. He destroyed society’s fabric and the country’s physical infrastructure,” the 69-year old man from Misurata says.

Mr Lamlum, general secretary of the Libyan National Movement, fled to the UK 38 years ago but returned to Misurata just two weeks ago, so the shock of the change for him has been greater.

He is disappointed that the city he knew was “mutilated” over the past four decades. Its heritage, culture and history were demolished.

The “old Libya” was replaced by tall, bulky buildings, in lack of appreciation for the country’s history. Every corner of every city used to have its own identity and a distinctive meaning, but this was lost during Gaddafi’s regime, Mr Lamlum says sadly.

Yet he is optimistic about the future, despite a growing concern about the state of security in the country. He dismisses alarm about ongoing fighting in several pockets of Tripoli. Isolated fighting between former pro- and anti- Gaddafi people does erupt from time to time, but it mostly boils down to ordinary criminal activity, he insists.

“It is absolutely impossible for another Gaddafi era to re-emerge,” he adds.

Instead, he worries about the state of the country’s infrastructure. Gaddafi left behind a country that did not have adequate hospitals or educational infrastructure.

The war made the situation worse and though money flowed into the country when the fighting stopped, at the moment most of it is going into the medical treatment of thousands of Libyans, he points out.

Magda Koukab, a 35-year-old-lawyer from Az-Zawiyah, shares the concern.

Ms Koukab, who fled Libya to seek refuge in Malta eight years ago, would like to return but feels she cannot make the decisive step until she feels that her children’s education will be properly catered for. Although Libya has enough spaces to serve as schools, Gaddafi’s government neglected the educational infrastructure. But nothing has changed since his demise so far, she says.

“I want to head back to Libya for good but I cannot do it until there’s a strong educational structure in place.

“I understand that it will take time to rebuild the physical infrastructure but in the meantime, the NTC should take the initiative and send students abroad to further their studies,” she adds.

She steadfastly insists that teaching methods in Libya will definitely need to be updated because Gaddafi’s methods – still used today – are outdated.

Education has nothing to do with the political system and the country’s problems, Dr Koukab says resolutely.

Her family in Az-Zawiyah tell her that business has not yet kicked off and people are not taking the risk of investing their savings.

Small fights are also erupting in the vicinity of her hometown. There are still some people in Az-Zawiyah calling themselves “green men” who trigger street fights.

Neither do neighbours trust one another. Some still insist Gaddafi died a martyr. Others live in fear, while some dream the green flag will triumph again one day.

“We cannot trust this new government bcause all members used to work with, or are former friends of, Gaddafi,” she insists.