Amazigh minority struggle to be heard in post-Gaddafi Libya
By Nehal El-Sherif, dpa
Published on 07.07.2012
Tripoli (dpa) – Moamer Gaddafi’s overthrow has emboldened Libya’s Amazigh minority to highlight their heritage and push for greater recognition, after what they say is long decades of prosecution and marginalization.
Under Gaddafi’s 42-year rule, Amazigh, better known as Berbers, say Libya was a hostile home as the now-slain dictator sought to obliterate their identity by officially banning their language and culture.
There are no official statistics for Libya’s Amazigh, but they are believed to account for 5-10 per cent of the country’s 6.5 million population.
Amazigh themselves say they are Libya’s indigenous inhabitants.
With Gaddafi now belonging to the past, Amazigh are holding traditional festivals and proudly speaking their local language outside their community.
They are also becoming politically active.
“Our plan is to ensure there is equality among Libyans,” said Nasser Abouzakhar, an Amazigh academic who has founded the Libyan Party List for Freedom and Development, which is running in Saturday’s National Congress elections.
“There are various cultures in Libya, and we are talking about the Libyan Amazigh, the Arabs and everybody,” he added.
Abouzakhar, 45, says his party’s other goals include an efficient justice system and unbiased media.
But a key aim of the party is to pressure the new government into adopting Tamazight as an official language, besides Arabic. The Gaddafi regime banned Tamazight in schools.
The party’s campaigning is much weaker than those of rivals, say observers.
“This was due to a shortage of money,” said Abouzakhar . “We tried to do our best to canvass voters through the social media. We have a Youtube channel and also used Facebook,” he told dpa at the group's small, spartanly-equipped office in central Tripoli.
Behind him, there was a banner bedecked with two flags. The first is Libya’s national red, black and green flag, adopted by rebel fighters at the beginning of their revolt against Gaddafi in February last year.
The other is blue, yellow and green with a red symbol that looks like a doubled-ended pitchfork. It is the flag of Libya's Amazigh.
Abouzakhar’s party has only five candidates among more than 1,200 vying for the 80 seats allocated to party lists in the current election.
Around 2,500 independent contenders are competing for the directly-elected 120 seats. None of them is thought to be Amazigh.
Abouzakhar, a computer science professor, and a female candidate are running in Tripoli. Three other Amazigh are standing in Ubari in southern Libya.
“Even if only one person made it to the (National) Congress, for us it is a matter of raising our voice,” he said.
“Imagine one person speaking Tamazight and asking for a translator. That would be a blow to the government because it would reflect our rights,” said Abouzakhar in English.
