Political Islam in Libya: Transformation on the Way to Elitisation

Abstract

Under Muammar Al-Gaddafi's revolutionary government in Libya, there was no major Islamist movement in existence with capacity to represent most of population. The repression and the co-option caused the exile or demobilisation of those who aspired to form part of the Libyan political class. The outbreak of revolt in February 2011, the subsequent civil war, and ulterior legislative and constituent processes enabled Islamists to abandon their clandestine situation and to start a process of emergence in public space, renovation of its bases and elitisation. The Justice and Construction Party (JCP) (Muslim Brotherhood in Libya) is the Islamist party that has benefited most from these processes. But the current instability, with different groups claiming the representative legitimacy of the state, has favoured the continuation of the atomisation of political Islam and the persistence of fighting brigades, including transnational jihadist groups.