Cracking up

20 March 2012 By Una Galani Follow @ugalani

The push for federalism in the east may be a bargaining chip to ensure equality. But if taken further, it could lead to a breakup with major consequences for the country’s oil trade. Neither Iraq nor the UAE provide a useful model for a more federal state.

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A rally calling for the creation of a semi-autonomous territory in eastern Libya ended in clashes on March 16, according to AFP.
Thousands of people protested On March 9 in Libya’s two largest cities to oppose calls in the oil-producing east to declare autonomy from central rule.
Civic leaders from Libya’s eastern Cyrenaica province launched a push for regional autonomy on March 6, declaring the creation of a provincial council to run its affairs.
“The National Federal System is the province’s choice in terms of the type of unified Libyan state”, the Congress of the People of Cyrenaica declared.
“We would like in Cyrenaica to take care of housing, education and other things and would delegate national security, defence … to the central government,” said Mohammed Buisier, a Libyan-American who helped to organise the congress.
Libya was run along federal lines for about 10 years after it became independent in 1951, with powers devolved to Cyrenaica, the southern province of Fezzan, and Tripolitania in the west of the country.

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