For years, the Muslim Brotherhood’s presence within Libya’s Tripoli-based government was an open secret that Western diplomats largely preferred to ignore. The Justice and Construction Party, the Brotherhood’s Libyan political wing, famously voted Abdulhamid Dbeibah into power during the 2021 UN-brokered Geneva conference. Over the years, the group bolstered his government through budget crises, militia clashes, and endless performative reconciliation talks. It was a politically convenient marriage, mutually beneficial yet rarely acknowledged in polite circles. Today, that arrangement is publicly dead, and the manner of its demise exposes the profound cynicism governing Libya’s political trajectory.

A Scorched-Earth Breakup

Dbeibah recently severed ties with the Brotherhood, leaving zero room for diplomatic misinterpretation. During a public address, he accused the organization of secretly contacting foreign governments while he was abroad for medical treatment. Their goal, he claimed, was to lobby for their own elevation, allegedly telling foreign diplomats that the Prime Minister was dying and they should be considered his replacements. “He’s dying… we’ll sort it out after,” Dbeibah summarized.

In response, Dbeibah salted the earth, declaring the Brotherhood “no longer has a presence in the country” and will have “no opportunity to return to the political scene.”

The Brotherhood’s reaction was defensively telling. Its youth affiliate........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)