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By Umar Khan.
Tripoli, 30 June:
The Nation Party (Hizb Al-Watan) was founded in April of this year and has the backing the . . .[restrict]leading Islamist cleric Ali Salabi. It also counts the former leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) and former head of the Tripoli Military Council, Abdul Hakim Belhaj, amongst its members. The party has 59 candidates standing in the 7 July elections, making it the fourth largest in size, but one of the biggest in terms of national presence and perceived influence.
The party has an executive committee that makes the decisions on different issues and has no formal leader. According to party members, the leadership will be decided after the elections for the national congress to give a fair chance to all the members to elect their leaders.
The idea of the party evolved from a conference last year when many different religious groups agreed to form an alliance but the idea never took off. Many of the other groups ultimately formed their own parties while the remaining went ahead with the idea and created Nation Party.
The party policy is determined by a temporary preparatory committee that consists of ten members and is chaired by Ismail Gritly.
The party has 32 offices in different cities across Libya, says Muhammad Ghula, a former coordinator and a senior member of the party.
The Nation party believes that the parliamentary system will be suitable for Libya. According to Ghula, the Nation Party strongly opposes federalism if it calls for separation but if it means de-centralisation then the party supports it.
The Nation Party is focusing on different issues during their electoral campaign including an inclusive constitution, decentralisation, national reconciliation, the need for an independent judiciary and the formation of national army.
The Nation Party’s policy on reconciliation is that justice should be done along with the reconciliation and there should be no leniency towards anybody who was involved in the killing of Libyan people.
The Nation party presents itself as an inclusive religious party with a progressive approach. The party believes in using “Islam” as a frame of reference in all areas of life. As with all the parties, roughly half of its candidates are women, as required by law.
The Nation Party’s policy on the formation of a national army is that the culture of regional brigades should be abolished and the national army should take charge. The Nation Party wants to reactivate the country’s badly damaged security apparatus to ensure security and the stability of Libya, especially through safeguarding the borders.
The Nation Party’s foreign policy is to remain neutral and improve ties with all neighboring countries. It promises to respect international laws and to cooperate with the international community. According to Muhammad Ghula, the party will favour those countries that supported the revolution from the beginning.
The Nation Party promises special attention to improve the level of education and build the economy of Libya.
The Nation Party’s website can be found at www.wattan.ly
Umar Khan can be found on Twitter at www.twitter.com/umarnkhan [/restrict]
