The National Conference for the Libyan Opposition (NCLO) was a

Libyan opposition Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. All figures are from the United Nations Demographic Yearboo ...

organization during the later years of the Gaddafi government. Its stated goal was to bring "an end to tyranny and the establishment of a constitutional and democratic legitimacy" to

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

. The NCLO was formed in 2005 and helped to organize some of the initial protests which led to the Libyan Civil War.

Background

In May 2005, the Organizing Committee for the National Conference of the Libyan Opposition held a series of weekly meetings to discuss and develop an agenda for a conference "to put together practical approaches for following up on many efforts made by various Libyan political groups and individuals in their challenge of the Libyan

dictatorship A dictatorship is an autocratic form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, who hold governmental powers with few to no Limited government, limitations. Politics in a dictatorship are controlled by a dictator, ...

" of

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until Killing of Muammar Gaddafi, his assassination by Libyan Anti-Gaddafi ...

. The National Conference for the Libyan Opposition was formed on 26 June 2005 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Composed primarily of opposition advocates and activists living outside Libya, the Conference met sharing three demands: ::#The relinquishing of all Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...

political Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

and

security Security is protection from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted coercion). Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be persons and social groups, objects and institutions, ecosystems, or any other entity or ...

powers; ::#The formation of a transitional government run by individuals who are recognized of being trustworthy and have the capabilities to run the country for a period no longer than one year, in order to bring the country back into constitutional life; and ::#Establishment of a constitutional and democratic state built on key concepts such as political and

cultural diversity Cultural diversity is the quality of diverse or different cultures, as opposed to Monoculturalism, monoculture. It has a variety of meanings in different contexts, sometimes applying to cultural products like art works in museums or entertainment ...

and peaceful transition of government powers; a state that guarantees fundamental freedom and

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

, that establishes the

rule of law The essence of the rule of law is that all people and institutions within a Body politic, political body are subject to the same laws. This concept is sometimes stated simply as "no one is above the law" or "all are equal before the law". Acco ...

, equality and

equal opportunity Equal opportunity is a state of fairness in which individuals are treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers, prejudices, or preferences, except when particular distinctions can be explicitly justified. For example, the intent of equal ...

to all Libyan

citizens Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationality; ...

without any form of

discrimination Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sex ...

; that protects and develops national resources, and endows balanced

foreign relations Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...

built on mutual

respect Respect, also called esteem, is a positive feeling or deferential action shown towards someone or something considered important or held in high esteem or regard. It conveys a sense of admiration for good or valuable qualities. It is also th ...

. Following the 2005 Conference, the NCLO agreed on a mission to call for a medium to address the Libyan people and the need to create a legal mechanism for prosecuting the leaders of the Gaddafi regime. The Conference has since been using the internet and

social networking A social network is a social structure consisting of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), networks of Dyad (sociology), dyadic ties, and other Social relation, social interactions between actors. The social network per ...

sites such as

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

as political tools to organize and garner support.

Libyan civil war

During the Libyan Civil War, the NCLO aided in organizing the 17 February "Day of Rage", stating that "all" groups opposed to Gaddafi both within Libya and in exile planned the protests in memory of the demonstrations in Benghazi on 17 February 2006 that were initially against the ''Jyllands-Posten'' Muhammad cartoons, but which turned into protests against Gaddafi. The NCLO's website disappeared sometime after the end of the civil war, and the organization is now presumed to have disbanded as its purpose is fulfilled and several of its member groups no longer exist.

Member groups

The National Conference for the Libyan Opposition is an umbrella group of seven smaller organisations, these include: * Libyan League for Human Rights * Libyan Tmazight Congress (A.L.T) * National Front for the Salvation of Libya * Libyan Constitutional Union * Libyan National Movement

References

External links

*
Foundation of the Conference
Qantara.de {{Authority control 2005 establishments in Libya Defunct political parties in Libya Defunct political party alliances in Africa Military units and factions of the Libyan civil war (2011) Organizations of the Arab Spring Political history of Libya Political opposition alliances in the Arab world Political parties established in 2005 Political parties with year of disestablishment missing Political party alliances in Libya