NTC official expects Islamists to win elections

The chairman of the outgoing Libyan executive board Mahmoud Jibril has announced the formation of a moderate Islamist coalition. The alliance is to include more than 44 parties and 236 civil society organisations, in preparation of the upcoming constituent council elections scheduled for June. Jibril stated that the coalition would also include 281 independents. He added that the coalition included the Amazigh, Tabu, and Tuareg tribes. The Head of Crisis Management Unit at the Libya's National Transitional Council, Abdel Nasser Shamata, earlier stated that an Islamist victory in the coming legislative elections was “possible”. Shamata said he saw nothing wrong with the idea that Libyan Islamists may be the “dark horse to win the elections, which are the first to be held since toppling Muammar Gaddafi’s regime, and repeat the same scenario that took place in Tunisia, Egypt, and Morocco.” “There is no justification for the phobia of Islamists coming to power, all Arab countries tried socialists and capitalists and liberals and seculars, why not try Islamists and evaluate afterwards?” he stated Jibril during a press conference on Wednesday said that the forming a moderate Islamist coalition would send out a powerful message, that Libyan citizens of different regions and affiliations decided that the construction phase has begun. He said the process did not exclude any party, explaining that the coalition called for moderate Islam and a balanced development of all regions without central administration. A general secretariat is to be elected for the coalition on March 12, in Benghazi. According to the Al-Islam website, Shamata stated that there were no disputes with regard to Islamic Sharia law, which all parties in Libya agreed on. Shamata also denied the existence of US troops at a Libyan base, saying that all there were a few security companies training police and military units.