# Whither Libya -- unitary or federal state? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 20, 2012, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whither-libya-unitary-or-federal-state/622475 "2012-05-20T00:06:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whither-libya-unitary-or-federal-state/622475/1 "2012-05-20T00:06:51Z")
When a people shake off a dictatorship, they are confronted with the question, "What do we do **now?"** If it was a heavy dictatorship, they might find that during the Revolution they just assumed their neighbors/comrades agreed with them politically on everything important, because public political discussions were never even allowed before; and after the revolution, they might get a nasty surprise. In Libya’s case, they’re confronting the question of whether post-Ghaddafi Libya should be a unitary or a federal state The [Kingdom of Libya](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Libya) originally was a sort of federal kingdom of three historic regions: [Cyrenaica](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrenaica) (main city is Benghazi), [Tripolitania](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripolitania) (where the capital Tripoli is), and [Fezzan.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fezzan) (biggest city is Sabha, but, no major cities to speak of, really.) And Benghazan resentment over Tripolitanian rule was one of the factors in the revolt against Ghaddafi, which began there. And now, Benghazi wants autonomy (including local control over local oilfields, etc.) [Benghazi is having local elections](http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/05/2012519202245675248.html) for the first time since the 1960s, and the federalism question is becoming a factor. A faction called the “Cyrenaica Congress” is demanding autonomy (and has called for a boycott of Libya’s first national elections, scheduled for June 19, 2012.) What will/should Libya be in 10 years? A unitary or a federal state? Or will it break apart into two or three separate states? (I hope not, that probably would mean another civil war.) Paging **Bibliovore!** (Our only Libyan Doper, AFAIK – he posted a lot in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=597377) when the revolution was in progress.) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whither-libya-unitary-or-federal-state/622475/2 "2012-05-20T00:10:08Z")
There has already been [violence](http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/03/2012316194433278917.html) over this, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whither-libya-unitary-or-federal-state/622475/3 "2012-05-20T00:11:08Z")
[Anti-federalism editorial](http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/04/201241871355584880.html) from Aljazeera English. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whither-libya-unitary-or-federal-state/622475/4 "2012-05-22T01:20:14Z")
Also, the Libyans are still struggling to rein in their [militias.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011%E2%80%932012_Libyan_factional_fighting) Formed during the Revolution, they still won’t just disband and go home, and they keep fighting each other.