Opinion by Arezki Daoud: Pardon me if I am not convinced that Libya’s eastern leaders have any interest in the rule of law and in the well-being of their people. We’ve seen this scenario many times in history and in the modern era, it usually does not end well.
An article from Libya Observer reported that Belgassim Haftar, the son of the eastern warlord Khalifa Haftar, has taken on the role of head of the Reconstruction Fund for Derna and areas ravaged by floods, under the parallel government sanctioned by the House of Representatives. In a recent development, he inked significant contracts in the reconstruction sector with the Egyptian company Arab Contractors. Of course we have all known that Khalifa Haftar pushed Belgassim, his brothers and other family members to take the lead on the reconstruction of the troubled region.
There is a lot of money to be made. The reconstruction projects, reports Libya Observer, include the construction of new bridges at the western entrance of the city of Derna, bridges located at the summit of Abu Mahboul valley and Marges valley on the sea road connecting the cities of Sousse and Derna.
The publication noted the fancy expressions from Belgassim Haftar, who spoke of the need for quality constructions and such. Good and all, but putting the Haftar family in charge is an affront for the Libya people and a sign that Libya is on the wrong track.
Belgassim is not the only one in the Haftar family being propelled by the father. Two of his six sons, Saddam and Elseddik, have been particularly active in the pre and post-disater era that hit the northeast of the country, even though they have no skills in the reconstruction business. Saddam has been involved in defense matters despite accusations of stealing money from public coffers and committing atrocities in the conduct of the civil war. He is also in charge of directing disaster recovery in Derna, a position that gets him very close to billions of dollars.
This is no different than what Muamar Gaddafi did when he controlled the country. He injected his incompetent children into the country’s political, military and economic spheres, helping create the very environment that led to violence and ultimately resulted in Gaddafi’s death. Haftar is adopting the same model, creating the fundamentals of another political crisis in the years ahead.
Libya has highly educated professionals who can take on the responsibility of rebuilding the country, but Khalifa Haftar is determined to block any progress, and is working hard, with the help of his patrons, to reproduce the exact same environment that allowed the take over of the country by the disgraced Gaddafi family. It is therefore crucial for the future of Libya to ensure that cronyism and nepotism do not take place, otherwise, as the French used to say: “Le roi est mort, vive le roi” (the king is dead, long live the king).