The 14th of July is the anniversary of the establishment of the Democratic Party. On this happy occasion, I would like to reiterate that the Democratic Party stands for secularism as the means for establishing a genuine democracy in Libya. It is the only way to prevent our religious differences from turning into violent confrontations that would undermine the democratic transition and return Libya to tyrannical rule.

Libya is in pressing need of reactivating its independence constitution, with the necessary amendments to make it genuinely democratic. Libya also needs to become an open society where the right of all Libyans to political participation is respected.

It is abundantly clear that much of the political tension and discord that Libyan society is currently experiencing is the result of the evil that has befallen our beloved Libya since Gaddafi’s military coup. The healing process has yet to begin. This is why the Democratic Party considers the process of national reconciliation to be of the essence.

The Democratic Party was the first political party to be established in Libya following the outbreak of the Glorious Revolution of the 17th of February in 2011 during the Arab Spring and our end goal is to build a political system similar to the one in United Kingdom. As a matter of fact, the late dictator Muammar Gaddafi mentioned us by name ( The Democratic Party ) in his last audio recording.

It is a source of great pride that in the first ten years of its history, the Democratic Party has succeeded in becoming the foremost voice of secularism in Libya. Indeed, the party has successfully set in place the ideological foundations for a modernist and democratic Libya. This has been achieved despite the reactionary forces that want to return Libya to military dictatorship and those that want to take her down the path of fundamentalism and extremism.

Evidently, the Democratic Party advocates the separation of mosque and state. While most of our members are committed Muslims, some of the founders of the party are Libyans of the Jewish faith who were unjustly expelled from their beloved country in the 1960s.

Undoubtedly, the road to democracy and freedom is a long one, and there are difficult challenges ahead, but we are confident that we will be triumphant in the end. It is truly encouraging that most Libyans are now adamant that democracy is the only way forward.

Unlike many other Libyan political parties, the Democratic Party does not promise jobs, financial privileges, or scholarships to those who wish to join it. Our membership is purely ideological. This is because we are staunch defenders of our political independence. Indeed, the party has never received any funding from any government, institution, or individual. In fact, the Democratic Party does not have a bank account to this day.

Transparency is essential for the success of democracy. It is therefore imperative that all Libyan political parties come clean and declare their sources of income for all Libyans to see. Sadly, the Libyan political scene is deeply marred by dirty money; it is currently an uneven playing field.

Thanks be to God, the Democratic Party is growing from strength to strength, almost by the day, because of the clarity of its political vision and its unwavering commitment to freedom and democracy. Our enemies and the counter-revolution will not succeed in derailing us.

The Democratic Party welcomes all those who would like to participate in our debates on our Facebook page: Libya Freedom and Democracy Campaign https://facebook.com/groups/169834966398397

The Libyan Freedom and Democracy Campaign is a civil society organisation that gave birth to the Democratic Party. Unfortunately, our original website and other Facebook pages associated with the Party have been hacked by the counter-revolution and the enemies of democracy.

Long Live Libya,

Ahmed Shebani President of the Democratic Party