Socio-Political Situation in Libya from the Urban Perspective
- Autores: Mary Fitzgerald
- Localización: Notes internacionals CIDOB, ISSN-e 2013-4428, Nº. 190, 2018, págs. 1-6
- Idioma: inglés
- Enlaces
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Resumen
Libya’s political and security landscape is highly fragmented, localised and fluid in nature, with loyalties and allegiances regularly shifting between - and within - locales, regions, tribes and ethnic groups.
Power is wielded by armed and political factions (which sometimes overlap), a number of “city-states” which are key actors in their own right and -particularly in eastern and central Libyatribes.
Conflict in different parts of the country has resulted in serious abuses and violations of international law, with indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas, summary executions, torture and deliberate destruction of property reported since 2014.
Libya currently has three entities claiming to be governments -only one of which is recognised by the UN- and competing institutions divided between east and west.
Municipalities can play an important role not only in service delivery and localised economic recovery, but also fostering conflict resolution and improving societal cohesion.
The highly localised dynamic has undermined the role and legitimacy of state institutions already struggling with limited capacities and it has disrupted efforts to implement national programmes.
Until the national crisis is resolved, little can be done to address the structural and legislative questions that have hampered the development of a truly effective layer of local governance.
