New General National Congress

For Operation Libya Dawn, see: Battle of Tripoli Airport

The new General National Congress (new GNC) is a body formed by politicians from the blocs that lost the June 2014 elections in Libya. The term Libya Dawn (or Libya Dawn Coalition) is used to refer to the armed groups and/or the wider political movement supporting the new GNC. The new GNC is one of the major sides in the ongoing Second Libyan Civil War.

The new General National Congress claim to be a legitimate continuation of the obsolete General National Congress elected in 2012, but do not represent a majority of the membership of that congress.^[1] The majority of the GNC members belonged to groups now participating in the internationally recognized Libyan parliament, the Council of Deputies.^[2]

The New GNC is dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood's Libyan party, the Justice and Construction Party, and the "Loyalty to Martyrs Bloc" which consists of other smaller groups allied to the Muslim Brotherhood.^[2]

Re-elected members from the losing Islamist bloc have chosen to sit in the self-proclaimed New GNC, instead of the Council of Deputies where they would be in a reduced minority.^[3][4]

After their landslide defeat in the 2014 elections dominated by low turnout, Islamist parties acting under the leadership of Nouri Abusahmain used two armed groups, the Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room and Libya Shield Force, to take control of the capital Tripoli.^[5] In late August, Islamist militias allegedly abducted rivals (whose whereabouts are unknown) and attacked 280 homes.^[6] The GNC has rejected affiliation with any of these activities and it unknown who the exact perpetrators were with both sides blaming each other. The Islamist groups declared that they were the General National Congress and that it was once again the national parliament.^[7]

The self-proclaimed GNC is led by its president, Nouri Abusahmain,.^[7] and an interim prime minister, Khalifa al-Ghawi.^[8] Nouri Abusahmain was formerly president of the GNC which existed from 8 August 2012 to 4 August 2014.

References

1. ↑ "Abu Sahmain, Ghariani condemned by Thinni and parliament leader Saleh". Libya Herald. 25 August 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2014. 
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Libya: The Muslim Brotherhood's Last Stand?". Huffington Post. 25 July 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014. 
3. ↑ "National Congress party results". Libya Herald. 18 July 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014. 
4. ↑ "Libya publishes parliamentary election results". Xinhua. 22 July 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014. 
5. ↑ "Libya – Democracy's Complex Child". International Business Times. 29 August 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014. 
6. ↑ "Tripoli residents face dilemma after Libya Dawn take control of capital". The Guardian. 31 August 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014. 
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Libya's ex-parliament reconvenes, appoints Omar al-Hasi as PM". Reuters. 25 August 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014. 
8. ↑ Daragahi, Borzou (31 March 2015). "Tripoli authority sacks prime minister". Financial Times. Retrieved 31 March 2015.