Justice and Construction Party

The Libyan branch of the Muslim Brotherhood was founded in 1949; however, it did not operate openly until after the Libyan Civil War. A public conference was held for the first time in Libya on 17 November 2011 and attended by Libyan Muslim Brotherhood leader Suleiman Abdelkader and Tunisian politician Rashid Ghannouchi.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-libya-muslim-brotherhood-idUSTRE7AG2OY20111117|work=Reuters|title=Muslim Brotherhood goes public with Libya summit|date=17 November 2011|first=Francois|last=Murphy|location=Benghazi|access-date=8 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120108142418/http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/17/us-libya-muslim-brotherhood-idUSTRE7AG2OY20111117|archive-date=8 January 2012|url-status=live}} On 24 December 2011, the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood announced its intent to form a political party to contest the Public National Conference election scheduled for June 2012.{{cite news|url=http://www.tripolipost.com/articledetail.asp?c=1&i=7553 |work=The Tripoli Post |title=Muslim Brotherhood to Contest Libyan Elections as Independent Party |date=24 December 2011 |access-date=8 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150505212829/http://www.tripolipost.com/articledetail.asp?c=1&i=7553 |archive-date= 5 May 2015 }}

The official founding of the party was declared on 3 March 2012 despite the lack of electoral laws governing the foundation of political parties to run in elections. It was launched in Tripoli at a convention attended by 1,400 representatives, many of whom were previously jailed or exiled, from 18 cities. Former political prisoner Mohamed Sowan of Misrata was chosen as the inaugural head of the party. Amongst the party's other original representatives were several more rebel leaders from the civil war and wealthy Libyan expatriates who returned after the war. According to Al Jazeera, the JCP was the country's most organised political force even at the time of its founding,{{cite news|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/03/201233225029346350.html|title=Muslim Brotherhood forms party in Libya|work=Al Jazeera|date=4 March 2012|access-date=8 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307122429/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/03/201233225029346350.html|archive-date=7 March 2012|url-status=live}} similar to the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, which won a plurality in the 2011–12 Egyptian parliamentary elections after its own revolution, which ousted Hosni Mubarak from power.

Justice and Construction competed in the 2012 Libyan General National Congress election, receiving 10% of the vote and winning 17 of the 80 party-list seats. It placed second behind the National Forces Alliance. Furthermore, 17 of the 120 independents in the congress who were associated with the party were elected.{{Cite web |url=http://www.swp-berlin.org/fileadmin/contents/products/research_papers/2013_RP04_lac.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=19 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180904052429/https://www.swp-berlin.org/fileadmin/contents/products/research_papers/2013_RP04_lac.pdf |archive-date=4 September 2018 |url-status=live }}

In 2014, the Justice and Construction Party announced that it was withdrawing from government in Libya after failing to secure enough votes to unseat Prime Minister Ali Zeidan. All five of the party's ministers resigned as a result of the futile effort.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-25832818|title=Islamists quit Libya government|date=21 January 2014|work=BBC News|access-date=27 November 2017|language=en-GB|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171202094911/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-25832818|archive-date=2 December 2017|url-status=live}}

The Muslim Brotherhood's spokesman Mohamed Gaair stated that the party would seek "to work on security and stability. We are still a new founded party, but we will work on the basis of Islamic principles and that doesn't mean the shallow meaning of religion most people think of like banning women from leaving home." This followed an announcement by the National Transitional Council's interim government, which promoted sharia law as the foundation for new Libyan legislation. The party has also called for a nationally united government to end sectarianism and further conflict{{Cite web |url=http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=32490 |title=Libya's Justice & Construction Party Announces Its Support for National Unity Government - Ikhwanweb |access-date=3 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414081516/http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=32490 |archive-date=14 April 2016 |url-status=live }} through civil dialogue in post-revolutionary Libya.{{Cite web |url=http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=32493 |title=Libya Muslim Brotherhood Statement on Internal Strife Situation - Ikhwanweb |access-date=3 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413023305/http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=32493 |archive-date=13 April 2016 |url-status=live }}

A 2014 article by Foreign Policy described the JCP as a "party bruised" and noted that the Muslim Brotherhood's local Libyan party had not garnered high levels of public support.{{Cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2014/05/01/libyas-muslim-brotherhood-struggles-to-grow/|title=Libya's Muslim Brotherhood Struggles to Grow|website=Foreign Policy|access-date=27 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201033706/https://foreignpolicy.com/2014/05/01/libyas-muslim-brotherhood-struggles-to-grow/|archive-date=1 December 2017|url-status=live}}

In November 2016, former prime minister Khalifa al-Ghawil stated in an interview that the JCP was ruining the country. He had made similar statements before, ultimately claiming that the Muslim Brotherhood had an "agenda that was against the interests of Libyans".{{Cite web |url=https://www.libyaherald.com/2016/11/17/justice-and-construction-party-to-sue-ghwell/ |title=Justice and Construction Party to sue Ghwell | |date=17 November 2016 |access-date=27 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201041324/https://www.libyaherald.com/2016/11/17/justice-and-construction-party-to-sue-ghwell/ |archive-date=1 December 2017 |url-status=live }}

In June 2017, the Libyan House of Representatives (HoR) composed a list of terrorists inside Libya with links to Qatar, a widely purported sponsor of terrorism. The list was signed by Talal Almaihub, chairman of the Defense and National Security Committee of the HoR.{{Cite web |url=https://www.libyaherald.com/2017/06/11/muslim-brotherhood-party-says-hor-terror-list-is-defamation/ |title=Muslim Brotherhood party says HoR terror list is defamation | |date=11 June 2017 |access-date=27 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201032210/https://www.libyaherald.com/2017/06/11/muslim-brotherhood-party-says-hor-terror-list-is-defamation/ |archive-date=1 December 2017 |url-status=live }} Multiple Muslim Brotherhood members were named in the list, including executive member Nizar Kiwan; major donor Abdulrazaq al-Aradi and Ali Salabi, who was called "the man considered to the ideological brains of the Muslim Brotherhood" by the Libya Herald. In response the JCP deemed the list defamation.

In July 2013, angry protesters stormed the party's offices in Tripoli following the assassination of prominent Libyan political activist Abdelsalam al-Mismari, who was purportedly killed by the Brotherhood.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-23474410|title=Activist dies in Benghazi killings|date=27 July 2013|work=BBC News|access-date=27 November 2017|language=en-GB|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122050928/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-23474410|archive-date=22 November 2018|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-23477992|title=Libya's Muslim Brotherhood attacked|date=27 July 2013|work=BBC News|access-date=27 November 2017|language=en-GB|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121210756/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-23477992|archive-date=21 November 2018|url-status=live}} Mismari was one of the original activists who helped drive a movement to overthrow Gaddafi and had been highly critical of the Muslim Brotherhood's affiliate party in Libya thereafter.

Agence France-Presse interviewed one of the protesters, who proclaimed, "We want all political parties to be dissolved. ... They're the cause of all our problems. First we need a constitution, then laws regulating political life before parties can begin operating [again]."

• List of Islamic political parties

{{Portal|Libya|Islam}}

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.ab.ly Official website] (Arabic)

{{Libyan political parties|state=collapsed}}

Category:2012 establishments in Libya

Category:Islamic democratic political parties

Category:Islamic political parties in Libya

Category:Political parties affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood

Category:Political parties established in 2012

Category:Political parties in Libya