Justice and Construction Party

Justice and Construction Party
حزب العدالة والبناء
Hizb Al-Adala Wal-Bina
Chairperson Mohamed Sowan
Spokesperson Mohamed Gaair
Founded 3 March 2012 (2012-03-03)
Headquarters Tripoli, Libya
Ideology Islamic democracy
Islamism
Political position Right-wing
Religion Sunni Islam
International affiliation Muslim Brotherhood
Colours          Azure and gold
General National Congress
17 / 200
Website
www.ab.ly

The Justice and Construction Party[1][2] or Justice and Development Party (Arabic: حزب العدالة والبناء‎, Hizb Al-Adala Wal-Bina)[3] is the Muslim Brotherhood's political party in Libya. It was officially founded on 3 March 2012 in Tripoli. The party advocates Islamism.

The Muslim Brotherhood as a whole has an extensive history of links to violence and involvement in terrorist activities.[4] It is recognized as a terrorist organization by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Syria, and Russia.[5][6][7][8]

Mohamed Sowan of Misrata heads the party, while Mohamed Gaair is its spokesman. While the party finished second in the elections,[9] it is believed to have attracted enough independents to have become the majority, and infighting in the National Forces Alliance has allowed the Brotherhood's political arm to gradually consolidate control over Libya. The party backed the election of Nouri Abusahmain a Amazigh and moderate Islamist over the secular candidates who were defeated.[10] This gave the Brotherhood a strong position so that once Ali Zeidan was sacked[11][12][13] over mishandling of Morning Glory oil shipments the Brotherhood had the speaker-President (Abusahmain) with the authority that they could then eventually appoint a moderate Islamist and pro-Business politician,[14] Ahmed Maiteeq as the Prime minister [15][16] The Brotherhood continues to build a stronger national consensus and is united [17] when the nationalist National Forces Alliance are divided, by backing an Amazigh as President, the JCP consolidated a stronger support base amongst Libya's ethnic minorities

History

The Libyan branch of the Muslim Brotherhood was founded in 1949, however it had not been able to operate openly until after the Libyan Civil War. A public conference was held for the first time in Libya on 17 November 2011 and attended by Libyan Muslim Brotherhood leader Suleiman Abdelkader and Tunisia's Rashid Ghannouchi.[18] On 24 December 2011, the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood announced an intention to form a political party to contest the Public National Conference election scheduled for June 2012.[19]

The official founding of the party was declared on 3 March 2012, despite the lack of electoral laws governing the foundation of political parties to run in elections. The Libyan Muslim Brotherhood's spokesman, Mohamed Gaair, said the party was launched in Tripoli after a function attended by 1,400 representatives from over 18 cities. A former political prisoner Mohamed Sowan of Misrata was chosen as the inaugural head of the party. Significantly, Misrata was a hotbed of violence during the civil war and its people are also considered to have become distrustful of the central government's institutions based outside the city (since the founding leaders from the oil-rich region have called for autonomy for the wider Cyrenaica region; a move that was opposed by others in Tripoli and Benghazi[20]). Gaair added that many of the Muslim Brotherhood's leaders were either previously jailed or sent into exile. Amongst its supporter base are several other rebel leaders from the civil war and wealthy Libyan expatriates who returned after the war. The party is said to be the country's most organised political force,[21] similar to the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, which won a plurality in the 2011–12 Egyptian parliamentary elections after its own revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak from power.

Justice and Construction competed in the Libyan General National Congress election, 2012. It received 10% of the vote and won 17 of the 80 party-list seats, placing second behind the National Forces Alliance. It is also estimated that 17 of the 120 independents in the GNC are associated with Justice and Construction.[22]

In 2014, the Justice and Construction Party announced that it was withdrawing from government in Libya after failing to secure enough votes to censure then Prime Minister, Ali Zeidan. All five of the party’s ministers – including those for Oil, Economy, and Housing – resigned as a result of the futile effort.[23]

Ideology

The Muslim Brotherhood's spokesman Mohamed Gaair said that the party would seek "to work on security and stability. We are still a new founded party, but we will work on the basis of Islamic principles and that doesn't mean the shallow meaning of religion most people think of like banning women from leaving home. This is not rational." This followed an announcement by the NTC's interim government that Sharia law was to be the foundation for new Libyan legislation.[21] It has now also called for a National unity government in order to end sectarianism and further conflict.[24] It has also called for all parties to have dialogue with each other in "post revolutionary" Libya.[25]

Criticism

The Brotherhood party affiliate in Libya has come under scrutiny because of the larger Muslim Brotherhood’s links to violence and adherence to the strict Sharia – or Islamic – religious law.[4]

In June 2017, the Libyan House of Representatives (HoR) produced a list of terrorists inside Libya with links to Qatar, a widely purported sponsor of terrorism. The list was signed by Talal Almaihub, chairman of the defense and national security committee of the HoR.[26] Multiple Brotherhood members were named in the list, including executive member, Nizar Kiwan, major donor, Abdulrazaq al-Aradi, and Ali Salabi, “the man considered to the ideological brains of the Muslim Brotherhood.”[26]

In November 2016, former prime minister of Libya, Khalifa al-Ghawil, stated in an interview with Libya Al-Hadith TV that the JCP was ruining the country. He had made similar statements before, ultimately claiming that the Brotherhood had an “agenda that was against the interests of Libyans.”[27]

A 2014 article by American news publication, Foreign Policy, described JCP as a “party bruised” and noted that the Brotherhood’s local Libyan party has not garnered high levels of public support.[28]

Protests

In July 2013, angry protesters stormed the party’s offices in Tripoli following the assassination of prominent Libyan political activist, Abdelsalam al-Mismari, purportedly killed by the Brotherhood.[29][30] Mismari was one of the original activists that helped drive a movement to overthrow Gaddafi and was highly critical of the Brotherhood’s affiliate party in Libya thereafter.[30]

Agence France-Presse news outlet interviewed one of the protesters, who proclaimed:[30]

“We want all political parties to be dissolved […] They’re the cause of all our problems. First we need a constitution, then laws regulation political life before parties can begin operating.”

References

  1. ↑ "Muslim Brotherhood formally launches party". Libya Herald. 3 March 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  2. ↑ Soguel, Dominique (3 March 2012). "Muslim Brother picked to lead new Libya party". Times of India. Tripoli. Agence France-Presse. Archived from the original on 1 July 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  3. ↑ Haimzadeh, Patrick (3 July 2012), "Libya's Unquiet Election", Middle East Online
  4. 1 2 CNN, By Bryony Jones and Susannah Cullinane. "What is the Muslim Brotherhood? - CNN". CNN. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  5. ↑ "Bahrain News Agency | Bahrain backs Saudi Arabia, UAE, Foreign Minister says". www.bna.bh. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  6. ↑ "Egypt Brotherhood 'terrorist group'". BBC News. 2013-12-25. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  7. ↑ "Brotherhood 'terrorists', say Saudis". BBC News. 2014-03-07. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  8. ↑ "U.A.E. Supports Saudi Arabia Against Qatar-Backed Brotherhood". Bloomberg.com. 2014-03-09. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  9. ↑ "Libya's Muslim Brotherhood Struggles to Grow". Foreign Policy. 4 May 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  10. ↑ "Libya assembly votes in first Berber as new chief". Reuters. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  11. ↑ "BBC News - Islamist party quits Libya's government". BBC News. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  12. ↑ http://www.libyaherald.com/2014/01/16/sack-zeidan-or-take-blame-for-libyas-woes-muslim-brotherhood-tells-congress/#axzz30mtYnyJV
  13. ↑ http://www.libyaherald.com/2014/03/11/congress-sacks-zeidan-elections-for-new-legislature-in-july/#axzz30mtYnyJV
  14. ↑ "Islamist-backed businessman named Libya PM". Telegraph.co.uk. 4 May 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  15. ↑ Agencies. "Confusion surrounds Libya PM's election". Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  16. ↑ Agencies. "Libya speaker confirms new PM's appointment". Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  17. ↑ http://www.libyaherald.com/2014/04/27/sawan-re-elected-head-of-justice-and-construction-party-for-four-years/#axzz30mtYnyJV
  18. ↑ Murphy, Francois (17 November 2011). "Muslim Brotherhood goes public with Libya summit". Benghazi. Reuters. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  19. ↑ "Muslim Brotherhood to Contest Libyan Elections as Independent Party". The Tripoli Post. 24 December 2011. Archived from the original on 5 May 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  20. ↑ "Thousands rally in Libya against autonomy for east". Reuters. 9 March 2012.
  21. 1 2 "Muslim Brotherhood forms party in Libya". Al Jazeera. 4 March 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  22. ↑ http://www.swp-berlin.org/fileadmin/contents/products/research_papers/2013_RP04_lac.pdf
  23. ↑ "Islamists quit Libya government". BBC News. 2014-01-21. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  24. ↑ http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=32490
  25. ↑ http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=32493
  26. 1 2 https://www.libyaherald.com/2017/06/11/muslim-brotherhood-party-says-hor-terror-list-is-defamation/
  27. ↑ https://www.libyaherald.com/2016/11/17/justice-and-construction-party-to-sue-ghwell/
  28. ↑ "Libya's Muslim Brotherhood Struggles to Grow". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  29. ↑ "Activist dies in Benghazi killings". BBC News. 2013-07-27. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  30. 1 2 3 "Libya's Muslim Brotherhood attacked". BBC News. 2013-07-27. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
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