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There is consensus amongst the better informed observers of developments in Libya that hopes for an early interim government to succceed the Transitional National Council (TNC) may have been premature. All things being equal, a cabinet chosen from amongst all stakeholders of the popular revolt that brought down the 42 year old Gheddafi regime is not likely before November or possibly December. Although negotiations have already started, the decisive rounds will not take place before the fall of the last loyalist strongholds. The capture or elimination of Muammar Gheddafi, his sons Saadi and Sejf (click on their names to see Interpol's respective Red Notices, the former of which was issued earlier this week), and their closest collaborators, would strenghten the credibility of the TNC throughout the country, thus accelerating the process towards an interim government.
Speaking on Thursday (September 29) to the press in Tripoli, Mahmoud Jibril - whose role in the TNC is the equivalent to that of a prime minister - confirmed the view that the formation of a government is not imminent. Focussing on the immediate tasks of the TNC, Jibril confirmed that legislation was being drafted to review wages and salaries upwards. He announced that the TNC intends to abolish customs' duty on imported foodstuffs and to pay Libyan Dinars (LD) 400 (approximately $US 323) monthly allowance to families of persons who lost their life in the revolt. Combatants will receive between LD 450 and LD 500 a month. Three quarter of a million lambs will be centrally imported for Eid Al Adha (November 6 in Libya). Referring to the unfreezing of Libyan assets abroad, Jibril confirmed rumours that Libya had to date actually received much less than the amounts unfrozen by governments in the jurisdictions where these assets are located.
Jibril's comments about his own political future - he is reported to have said that he was conscious that his political rivals were calling for his removal but inasmuch as the only legitimate authority in Libya was that of the TNC, he would be happy to go but only if the TNC itself were to declare him unsuitable for his post - will further fuel speculation about power struggles within the anti-Gheddafi opposition. Some have interpreted his statement that he "would not be a part" of the transitional government to mean that he is thinking of quitting the political arena. Others have understood it to mean that, having played a key political role in the TNC during the uprising and having contributed to pave the way for the transitional government, he will take a step back as soon at the latter is set up, in order to run for office as soon as the transitional government will have organised elections.
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