Zahra' Langhi Quotes

We need to have a fair representation in terms of gender, a fair representation in terms of generation, a fair representation in terms of culture, a fair representation in terms of all Libyans of diaspora and inside of Libya, a fair representation as well of urban and rural areas… of the capital and more disenfranchised regions and cities. I cannot only focus on women’s empowerment; I need to address the other issues as well

Gaddafi left behind a heavy burden — a legacy of tyranny and corruption. For four decades, Gaddafi’s tyrannical regime destroyed the infrastructure, as well as the culture and moral fabric, of Libyan society

We need to end the unilateral interference in Libya… Libya is not a piece of cake

actually caused a further divisiveness and polarization in society

It’s about time we had either a commission of enquiry or a panel of experts that monitors the situation and ends impunity in all of Libya

We’ve been appeasing warlords

It’s only created a weak centralised government that is not addressing any other issues

However, bit by bit, the euphoria of the elections — and of the revolution as a whole — was fading out, for every day we were waking up to the news of violence

Nobody attacked the issue in Libya from a holistic approach

By that I mean, addressing the humanitarian crisis in Libya, addressing the human rights violations, addressing the lack of justice in Libya, the lack of a rule of law in Libya

The root cause… it’s the unchecked militarization, it’s the flow of arms, it’s the arms anarchy

We had… congressmen who were either affiliated with militias or who were themselves militias… We started seeing that congresswomen were threatened and bullied physically and verbally by other representatives

I was keen — along with many other women — to rebuild Libyan civil society, calling for an inclusive and just transition to democracy

focuses on rushing to elections and having a multi-party system when you don’t have real constituencies or comprehension of the idea of political parties and programmes

Our society, shaped by a revolutionary mindset, became more polarized and driven away from the ideas and principles — freedom, dignity, social justice — that we first held. Intolerance, exclusion and revenge became the post-math of the revolution.