Outgoing NTC PM: Libya’s New Cabinet an ‘Unelected Elite’

Tribes Fault Cabinet's Composition, Fueling Regional Tensions

New Prime Minister Abdurrahim El-Keib’s cabinet seems to have pleased NATO’s member nations, but it is drawing some loud criticism from the National Transitional Council (NTC)’s former PM, Ali Tarhouni.

Tarhouni, an economist who held the position on an interim basis before El-Keib was appointed on October 31, warned that the new cabinet was made up largely of rich backers of the new regime, cautioning that they are an “unelected elite.

“It’s about time we heard the true voices of the masses … we need to start rebuilding this democratic constitutional movement,” Tarhouni warned. Several tribes have also criticized the cabinet’s makeup, insisting it was a “government of outsiders.

So far silent on the matter, however, is the one voice which likely matters most, the Islamist leadership that was cut entirely out of the NTC’s cabinet, and which controls most of the NTC-loyal military forces in the nation. Keeping them out of the cabinet likely improved NATO’s opinion of it, but raises the possibility of a new civil war breaking out.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.