ABSTRACT
The wave of enthusiasm that engulfed Libya in the postrevolutionary period lasted only a few months, from the death of Colonel Muammar al-Gadafi on October 20, 2011, to the General National Congress (GNC) elections on July 7, 2012. The GNC elections were held with little delay and with a 60 percent turnout rate. Mahmoud Jibril and his National Front Alliance (NFA) emerged as the forerunners, with 48 percent of the vote and 39 parliamentary seats. The collective euphoria that had erupted following the fall of the Muammar al-Gadafi regime faded quickly as the GNC proved incapable of disbanding the revolutionary militias, of bringing order to the country, and of initiating a process of nation-building. Several members of the National Transitional Council (NTC), the organ that ruled Libya from the beginning of the revolution until the GNC elections, as well as many members of the GNC, had held high-level positions in the Muammar al-Gadafi regime.
