Climbing The Ladder of My Dreams: Economic vs Political Rights in Africa - Case Stud...

Climbing The Ladder of My Dreams: Economic vs Political Rights in Africa - Case Stud...: I must first say that i am pro-democracy. I believe that the true force of government comes from the power of its people. I am not an avid f...

Economic vs Political Rights in Africa - Case Study on Libya/Gadhafi

I must first say that i am pro-democracy. I believe that the true force of government comes from the power of its people. I am not an avid fan of Muammar Gadhafi, i'm just very concerned with the way he was ousted from power. Read on and Comment.

Muammar Gadhaffi is dead. He was killed like a savage beast who had caused ravaged Libya for over 42 years.

UN resolution 1973 to protect civilians in Libya was a noble endeavor on paper. No leader wants to witness the massacre of millions in another country. The US and other Western Countries were castigated for their dormancy during the Rwandan Civil War, Bosnia and many other human rights crisis and so they felt an urge to stymie a similar massacre of humans in Libya by enforcing a No fly zone. Till now everything seems perfect. The good guys are trying to protect innocent people from the bad guy. 

However a close look at the denouement of the Libya Civil War reveals that the main motive was not the protection of civilians in Libya but it was for regime change. In other words, this was a coup d'etat orchestrated by Western Countries notably France, the UK, the US, the UN, the ICC and their main weapons used in executing this coup were NATO, the NTC and of course the Media.

The never-before-seen speed with which the security council passed a resolution authorizing a no fly zone in Libya, the speed with which the National Transition Council organized itself into a rebel group proves, at least to me, that this whole war which was sparked by "civilian protests" in Benghazi was planned well in advance to take Gadhafi down. Uprisings began on the 15th of February 2011 and as early as the 22nd, French President Sarkozy had already demanded that Gadhafi steps down. The next day Clinton said he had lost "all legitimacy" to rule. Two weeks later they began bombing Libya.

If your aim is to protect civilians against a violent regime, why do you arm and support a rebel group. Since when are rebels synonymous to civilians? It is legitimate for the army of any country to protect the sovereignty  of the state against armed rebellion. In no country in the world would the government stand and watch an anti-government armed rebellion carry out its plan. So why did the West side with the Rebels? Why did they bomb Gadhafi's army while they were pushing back rebels? REBELS ARE NOT CIVILIANS. While i agree with NATO stopping Gadhaffi's forces against innocent civilians i disagree with way they gave rebels a free ticket into Tripoli. Regime change was the main reason behind UN resolution 1973 and this sets a dangerous precedence for the whole world especially for African countries. I am scared that this new regime change tactic would put the future of many African countries in the direct hands of leaders in Washington, Paris, and London. The UN is supposed to be a neutral body but their partiality in handing the Libyan civil war has made them lose all credibility in my eyes. 

If your real aim is to protect civilians, then respect your mandate. Do not hide behind a neutral body to orchestrate regime change. This is against International Law. Besides over 47000 civilians died during the Civil war. NATO stroke a home where Gadhafi's son and his 4 toddler nephews were sleeping. The latter died and NATO said it was targeting a command and control center. And of course, the world took it.

Gadhaffi was a Tryant. YES. But he transformed Libya's poor economy into one of the Richest countries in Africa. Many might say oh he had oil but there is nothing more common than an oil rich African countries where the majority of the population lives in poverty. Here are a few economic achievements of Gadhaffi:

- The domestic use of water and electricity was free
- The price of a liter of gas was 0.08euros or 12 US cents
- Libya Banks give loans at 0.00% interest rate
- Libya citizen don't pay taxes and the VAT does not exist
- Libya is the least indebted country in the world. It's public debt is at 3.3% of GDP. Compare with other countries France 84.5%, USA 88.9% and Japan 225.8%
- The government subsidizes the purchase of cars. The price at which a car is bought does not exceed production price.
- For every Libya student studying abroad, the government gives them a monthly allowance of 1627 EUR
- Every student with a professional diploma is paid half of the salary of a worker in that same profession while waiting for unemployment
- Every legally married couple gets a free house from the government of 150metres sq
- Every Libya family that presents its family book to the state receives 300 dollars per month

Gadhaffi empowered Libyan people economically but he tightely withheld political power. African countries and leaders need to realize that in this era of globalization, Economic and social rights weigh more that political and civil rights. People don't trust politicians anymore but they still expect their leaders to create a favorable economic environment. Western countries advocate for more political freedoms in Africa and completely neglect economic and social rights, except, of course, by sending tons of unsustainable aid. Democracy is a post-materialist aspiration. Democracy is catalyzed by a middle class. When the middle class is economically empowered, they start controlling resources vital to government survival. This gives them bargaining power in dealing with politicians. And it is this deal between the civil society and the government that gives rise to Democracy. 

Africans would be better off being stomach full without political rights than to have the right to vote while starving to death. I believes whoever controls economic power controls power and not the other way round. The more citizens become post-materialistic, the more they aspire democracy. You can give people political rights but if the economy is poor, anger will build up and there will be more conflict. Therefore my conclusion is that political rights without economic rights makes future conflict inevitable but economic power without political power increases the likelihood that the people's voice will be represented in government in future.

Democracy is a process BY the people. The Libyan Civil War was not won by the Libyan people. It was won by those who authorized UN resolution 1973. Western countries need to understand that democracy is a gradual process. They also need to understand that there is no universal standard for democracy as they wish. Each country should have a way of striking a deal between its leaders and its citizens sanctioned by its culture, not western ideals.

I wish the Libyan people goodluck as they enter the new post-Gadhafi Era. My condolences go to all those who lost their loved ones. Besides they already have very reliable friends helping them in their reconstruction as i read on CNN last week "...  ExxonMobil,Shell,Total and BP are already on the ground in #Libya "helping" them step up their oil Production "

God bless Africa.

Marc Olivier Enoh

BA Political Science & Economics

University of Michigan 2011