Mahmoud Jibril and Gaddafi’s Wealth Redistribution Project
by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya / October 28th, 2011
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi symbolizes many things to many different
people around the world. Love or hate the Libyan leader, under his rule
Libya transformed from one of the poorest countries on the face of the
planet into the country with the highest living standards in Africa. In
the words of Professor Henri Habibi:
When Libya was granted its independence by the United
Nations on December 24, 1951, it was described as one of the poorest and most
backward nations of the world. The population at the time was not
more than 1.5 million, was over 90% illiterate, and had no political
experience or knowhow. There were no universities, and only a limited
number of high schools which had been established seven years before
independence.1
Gaddafi had many grand plans. Many of them were of a pan-African
nature. This included the formation of a United States of Africa.
Gaddafi’s Pan-African Projects
Colonel Gaddafi started the Great Man-Made River. The Great Man-Made
River is a massive project to transform the Sahara Desert and reverse
the desertification of Africa. The Great Man-Made River with its
irrigation plans was also intended to help the agricultural sector in
other parts of Africa. This project was one of the victims of NATO’s
attacks on Libya.
Gaddafi also envisioned independent pan-African financial
institutions. The Libyan Investment Authority and the Libyan Foreign
Bank were important players in setting up these institutions. Gaddafi,
through the Libyan Foreign Bank and the Libyan Investment Authority, was
instrumental in setting up Africa’s first satellite network, the
Regional African Satellite Communication Organization (RASCOM), to
reduce African dependence on external powers.2
It is believed that his crowning achievement would have been the
creation of the United States of Africa. The supranational entity would
have been created through the African Investment Bank, the African
Monetary Fund, and finally the African Central Bank. These institutions
were all viewed with animosity by the European Union, United States,
International Monetary Fund (IMF), and World Bank.
Gaddafi’s Wealth Redistribution Project
Gaddafi had a wealth redistribution project inside Libya. U.S.
Congressional sources in a report to the U.S. Congress even acknowledge
this. On February 18, 2011 the report stated:
In March 2008, [Colonel Gaddafi] announced his intention
to dissolve most government administrative bodies and institute a Wealth
Distribution Program whereby state oil revenues would be distributed to
citizens on a monthly basis for them to administer personally, in
cooperation, and via local committees. Citing popular criticism of
government performance in a long, wide ranging speech, [he] repeatedly
stated that the traditional state would soon be “dead” in Libya and that direct
rule by citizens would be accomplished through the distribution
of oil revenues. [The military], foreign affairs, security, and oil
production arrangements reportedly would remain national government
responsibilities, while other bodies would be phased out. In early 2009,
Libya’s Basic People’s Congresses considered variations of the
proposals, and the General People’s Congress voted to delay
implementation.3
The Wealth Redistribution Project, along with the establishment of an anarchist
political system, was viewed as a very serious threat by the
U.S., the E.U., and a group of corrupt Libyan officials. If successful
it could have created political unrest amongst many domestic populations around
the world. Internally, many Libyan officials were working to
delay the project.
Why Mahmoud Jibril Joined the Transitional Council
Amongst the Libyan officials who was opposed to this project and
viewed it with horror was Mahmoud Jibril. Jibril was put into place by
Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi. Because of strong influence and advice from the
U.S. and the E.U., Saif Al-Islam selected Jibril to transform the Libyan
economy and impose neo-liberal economic reforms.
Jibril would become the head of two bodies in the Libyan Arab
Jamahiriya, the National Planning Council of Libya and National Economic
Development Board of Libya. While the National Economic Development
Board was a regular ministry, the National Planning Council would
actually put Jibril in a government position above that of the
equivalent of the prime minister–the Office of the General-Secretary of
the People’s Committee of Libya. Jibril actually was one of the forces
that opened the doors for privatization and poverty in Libya.
About six months before the conflict erupted in Libya, Mahmoud
Jibiril actually met with Bernard-Henri Lévy in Australia to discuss
forming the Transitional Council and deposing Gaddafi.4 He described Gaddafi’s
Wealth Redistribution Project as “crazy” in
minutes and documents from the National Economic Development Board of
the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.5 Jibril believed that the masses were not fit to
govern themselves and
that an elite should control the fate and wealth of any nation. What
Jibril wanted to do is downsize the government and layoff a large
segment of the public sector, but in exchange increase government
regulations in Libya. He would also always cite Singapore as the perfect
example of a neo-liberal state. While in Singapore, which he regularly
visited, it is likely that he meet with Bernard-Henri Lévy.
When the problems erupted in Benghazi, Mahmoud Jibril immediately
went to Cairo, Egypt. He told his colleagues that he would be back in
Tripoli soon, but he had no intention of returning. In reality, he went
to Cairo to meet the leaders of the Syrian National Council and Lévy.
They were all waiting for him to coordinate the events in Libya and
Syria. This is one of the reasons that the Transitional Council has
recognized the Syrian National Council as the legitimate government of
Syria.
Mahmoud Jibril is now the prime minister of the Transitional Council
of Libya. The opposition of Jibril to Gaddafi’s Wealth Redistribution
Project and his elitist attitude are amongst the reasons he conspired
against Gaddafi and helped form the Transitional Council. Is this
ex-regime official, who has always been an open supporter of the Arab
dictators in the Persian Gulf, really a representative of the people?
1. Henri
Pierre Habib, Politics and Government of Revolutionary Libya (Montmagny,
Québec: Le Cercle de Livre de France Ltée, 1975), p.1. [↩]
2. Regional African Satellite Communication Organization, “Launch of
the Pan African Satellite,” July 26, 2010. [↩]
3. Christopher M. Blanchard and James Zanotti, “Libya Christopher M.
Blanchard and
James Zanotti, “Libya: Background and U.S. Relations,” Congressional
Research Service, February 18, 2011,” Congressional Research Service,
February 18, 2011, p.22. [↩]
4. Private discussions with Mahmoud Jiribil’s co-workers inside and
outside of Libya. [↩]
5. Internal private documents from the National Economic Development
Board [↩]
Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya is a Sociologist and
Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG),
Montréal. He specializes on the Middle East and Central Asia. He was on
the ground in Libya for over two months and was also a Special
Correspondent for Flashpoints. He has been releasing articles about Libya in
conjunction with aired discussions with Cynthia McKinney on Freedom Now, a show
aired 5:00 pm PST, Saturdays, on KPFK, Los Angeles, CA. Read other articles by
Mahdi.
http://dissidentvoice.org/2011/10/mahmoud-jibril-and-gaddafi%E2%80%99s-wealth-redistribution-project/
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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