Islamists on the losing end of election in Libya
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/09/world/africa/libya-election-latest-results.html?ref=world
A coalition led by a Western-educated political scientist appeared on Sunday to be beating its Islamist rivals in Libya’s first election after Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, breaking an Islamist wave that swept across neighboring Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco in the aftermath of the Arab Spring uprisings.The preliminary results, characterized by independent monitors and party representatives who witnessed the vote count for a new national assembly, reflect in part the well-known name and tribal connections of the coalition’s founder, Mahmoud Jibril. He is the former interim prime minister who helped lead the de facto rebel government in Benghazi, and he is also a member of Libya’s most populous tribe, the Warfalla.
The apparent success of Mr. Jibril’s party over the Muslim Brotherhood’s bloc makes him perhaps the most important voice in the next stage of Libya’s transition, though he is barred for now from elected office.
The Islamists, in contrast, sought to portray Mr. Jibril’s coalition as “liberal” or “secular” — and some who stood with him acknowledged privately that for them those terms were apt. Still, unlike opponents of Islamists in other Arab countries, Mr. Jibril never hurled accusations of extremism against those who called for the application of Islamic law. Like the other major factions here, including the Islamist parties, Mr. Jibril pledged to make Islamic law a main source of legislation, though not the only one.
So, no, it's not as if a Pro-Western Liberal party is winning, but if nothing else it seems the Muslim Brotherhood aren't going to have a virtual monopoly in North African politics.
Edit: I found this quote by Jibril ridiculous though: “The Libyan people don’t need either liberalism or secularism, or pretenses in the name of Islam, because Islam, this great religion, cannot be used for political purposes,” he said. “Islam is much bigger than that.”