Libyan parliament moves its seat to a Greek ferry

[politicus]

I was under the impress that both parliaments were elected. That both were originally one parliament. Also that the Islamist faction was the larger one.

Nah, they only got around 30 seats out of 200, but since all candidates officially ran as independents its a bit hard to determine the exact breakdown. Since Islamists had a dominant role in the previous assembly and they were the best organized group in the country, they simply decided to take over the state and today they have almost finished the job.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan_Council_of_Deputies_election,_2014

[politicus]

Huh.

Apparently this new non-Islamist parliament only came into being about 2 weeks ago.

The Islamist parliament is the old one that was elected right after the revolution but has refused to step down.

That's why I was confused. The Islamist parliament used to be the official parliament. In fact, it was the Islamist parliament that elected the Prime Minister of the non-Islamist government. Still following?

This is a pretty big development. Previously Hafter was outside the government. Now all the forces opposed to Hafter have left and set up their own government. It sounds like it's more confusing but actually in a way things are becoming much more polarized and simple.

The new parliment was elected in June, that it only assembled recently doesn't make it less legitimate, its a natural effect of the state of the country.

If a parliament refuses to step down after an election, it may use to be the official parliment, but it isn't any longer. Furthermore most of the secular members of the Islamist parliament has withdrawn, so its the Islamist majority of the former parliament acting as if they are still the legitimate one.
The "Islamist parliament" is only official, if you by official mean the one that controls (or rather is backed up by) the most efficient fighting machine.

[politicus]

I did say "used" to be the official parliament.

Although if one believes democracy is the most important thing above all else, I would question why Islamists did so poorly in the most recent elections. I would question how legitimate the new official parliament is and how legitimate an election held in the middle of a civil war can be.

Of course, I personally don't give a crap about democracy. It is a means to an end.

Haftar for Revolutionary Leader for Life.

You are now officially on my HP list

[politicus]

Like I said, if you care about democracy, you can't back a parliament that was elected with 18% turnout in the middle of an armed conflict.

The Islamist parliament was elected with 60% turnout at a time when the country was relatively peaceful. That was less than 4 years ago. Extending their term seems reasonable.

The Islamist parliament where elected in July 2012, so less than 2 1/2 years ago actually. The low participation to the Council of Deputies was both because of growing apathy regarding the political process, and fighting, which made it impossible to vote in Derna and a few other places. But should you really reward the Islamists for making it impossible to hold an election in parts of the country? They created the security situation (aka war) that made the election impossible in those areas.

Low turnout doesn't in itself make an election invalid.