<Articles>Tribalism and Localism in Modern Libyan Politics: A Study of Ruling Actors in the Transition Period from the Kingdom to Qadhdhāfī Regime

This paper examines the appointment of political elites and the transformation from the United Kingdom of Libya to the founding of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab al-Jamāhīrīya established in 1977. First, this paper analyzes how Mu‘ammar Qadhdhāfī took power after the 1969 coup d'état using the perspectives of Libyan tribalism and localism as its theoretical framework. In particular, localism is appropriate for analyzing modern Libyan politics because the United Kingdom of Libya was formed in 1951 by the three regions—namely, Tripolitania, Cyrenaica and Fezzan. Second, to demonstrate the continuity and transformation of the political elites, this paper focuses on the allocation of political posts in the Kingdom of Libya (1951–69). During the federal era, the local tribal leaders obtained ministerial posts in the local governments; however, the central government abolished the federal system in 1963. The allocation of political posts to the Cyrenaican notables engaged with the King's aides, caused an imbalance among these regions. Additionally, the fact that the Sanusi did not assume the features of a ruling family; Herb (1999) indicated that the more political posts which were allocated within the ruling family, the more resilient the governments were. In 1969, the statement of the Free Officers Movement promised to root out corruption and guarantee equality among the Libyan citizens. However, this analysis shows that Qadhdhāfī appointed members of the prominent tribes of Cyrenaica as ministers and he made use of their power to manipulate the political institution and security organizations. Thus, despite his promises, Qadhdhāfī included the ousted regime. Qadhdhāfī deeply understood how difficult yet important it was to manipulate the stability of Libya's three regions and its tribal society