Political Isolation Law Claims Its First Victim

President of the GNC Mohammad Magariaf stepped down from his position by tendering his resignation rather than waiting for the "inquisition" to force him from office.  It is a dangerous precedent and one wonders if Magariaf plans to return to political life once it is shown that the country can't function without technocrats and political leaders who fulfilled some functions under Qadhafi. Read more about this from the Libya Herald here. It certainly seems that Magariaf is trying to cultivate the image that he is a Cincinnatus figure when in fact he appears to be a political schemer.

Magarief, anticipating that he would have to leave his post soon by virtue of the newly enacted Political Isolation Law (PIL), had decided to leave gracefully rather than wait for the soon to be constituted PIL Commission to remove him.The former GNC head is disqualified by virtue of the section of the PIL law that bars any former ambassadors under the Qaddafi regime from holding high office.There is also a clause in the PIL law that allows for the GNC to exempt a person from the law – if they felt it was in the national interest. There obviously did not seem to be enough consensus in the GNC to apply this to Magarief.“After the sacrifice…the nation still awaits more. Sacrifice is not forced upon people…it is taken by choice. A nation that does not appreciate those who sacrifice is denying its history”, added Magarief, hinting at his thirty-odd years in opposition to Qaddafi abroad.