Abdul Hamid Al-Dabaiba...an engineer and businessman who leads the Libyan government

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Abdul Hamid Al-Dabaiba, a Libyan planning engineer and businessman, was born in 1959. He worked in the field of trade and then assumed the presidency of the Development Authority for the Development of Administrative Centers in his country, where he supervised the completion of many projects in the field of construction throughout the various regions of Libya, a position he held until When the Libyan revolution broke out, he was elected president of the transitional government in 2012.

Birth and upbringing

Abdul Hamid Al-Dabaiba was born on February 13, 1959 in the city of Misrata, east of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, to a wealthy family with a long history in the field of trade.

Study and training

He received his education in his hometown and then at the Institute of Applied Engineering (Interior Department) in Tripoli. Then he went to Canada and joined the University of Toronto to study architecture, planning and building techniques. He culminated in the end of his studies by obtaining a master’s degree, then returned to his country where he began his professional career.

Professional and political path

After returning from school, he got involved in working in the construction field with his cousin, the businessman Ali Al-Dabaiba. Then he entered the government sector, and assumed the presidency of the Administrative Centers Development Agency, which is affiliated with the Economic and Social Development Fund, from 1989 until 2011.

This agency completed many projects in the field of construction, including the construction of airports, stadiums, and the extension of water networks and hotels.

Some of his opponents accuse him of profiting from investment and construction during the era of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, but he confirmed that his family is known for its commercial activity and that he worked with the Gaddafi regime as an engineer and not a politician. He said that he worked “for the sake of construction,” and that he would do so under any regime because “his goal is Building Libya.

Abdul Hamid Al-Dabaiba continued his commercial activity after the fall of Gaddafi, and he headed the board of directors of the Libyan Development and Investment Holding Company (LDCO). Although the field of trade dominated his life and he was known for it, he made a contribution to the field of sports, as he headed the Libyan Football Association Club.

Engineer Al-Dabaiba was not known in the field of politics before the Libyan revolution, even if he supported it, but his name remained obscure and did not appear on the list of political leaders until years later.

He established a political movement after the Libyan revolution called “Libya the Future,” through which he sought to bring together young people and those interested in Libyan public affairs within one framework for the renaissance of Libya. This is considered his first activity in politics publicly, and through it he participated in several international meetings concerned with Libyan affairs.

The "Libya Future" movement was known for its support of the referendum on the constitution, which is a demand of effective political forces, which means that the movement gave the engineer and businessman an opportunity to communicate and exchange opinions with various political forces.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right) and Libyan Prime Minister Dabaiba at Wahid al-Din Palace in Istanbul in 2021 (Anatolia)

Libyan Political Dialogue Forum

Al-Dabaiba participated in several dialogues and meetings that brought together elites and actors in the Libyan scene with the aim of getting Libya out of the turbulent situation it experienced after the revolution, especially the dominance of weapons over dialogue and the attempt to gain power over tanks, not through voting or political understanding.

Within the framework of the Libyan meetings and dialogues, the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum was held in Geneva on February 5, 2012, under international sponsorship, and 75 influential political figures in the Libyan scene participated in it. The negotiations continued for several months until they culminated in the election of Dabaiba as head of a transitional government with 39 votes out of 73.

From Geneva, Al-Muhandis appeared with a political speech that was described as strong, as he stressed the necessity of national reconciliation and the involvement of everyone in building the new Libya. He stressed that he would work to limit weapons to the hands of the state and that the security services be professional, in addition to his promises in the field of services, especially the issue of resolving the problem of outages. Continued work on the electrical grid, and he also pledged to return foreign investors who emigrated due to the deteriorating security situation.

After being chosen as Prime Minister, Al-Dabaiba set out to form his government, seek to obtain the confidence of Parliament, and prepare to hold parliamentary and presidential elections on December 24, 2021. He held consultations with several parties, social figures, businessmen, and leaders of military formations.

He went east to the city of Tobruk and delivered a speech that was described as "inflaming the feelings of the sheikhs and wise men of Tobruk" when he addressed them, saying, "I came to the city of peace with peace in my heart and peace in my hands. We want peace for all regions of the country. Enough of wars and fighting. We want to build projects for all generations," emphasizing that The necessity of turning the page on the past that led to the death of many young people.

Despite the difficulties facing the formation of the Dabaiba government, he was able to obtain a large majority that gave him confidence, as 132 deputies out of 133 who attended the session held in the city of Sirte in southern Libya voted for his government. The government included 27 ministers and 6 ministers of state, including 5 women.

If Dabaiba was keen to form an expanded government to conduct a delicate transitional phase, some considered that this might lead to slackness in work and limit effectiveness at a time when the country needs a homogeneous and limited team, and his government was welcomed and recognized by various sectors of Libyan society.

At the international level, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya considered the vote on the Dabaiba government “a real opportunity to move forward towards unity, stability, reconciliation and the full restoration of Libya’s sovereignty.”

CIA Director William Burns (left) meets Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dabaiba in Tripoli in 2023 (Anatolia)

The crisis after the revolution

The selection of Dabaiba as head of government was based on the outcomes of the political forum in Geneva - sponsored by the United Nations - and a recommendation from Parliament that was described as unanimously hoping for the return of stability to the country, but some representatives affiliated with retired Major General Khalifa Haftar in Tobruk tried to withdraw confidence from the national unity government, which is The move was described by some representatives who attended the session as “illegitimate,” and they questioned the number of those who announced their attendance at the session.

Al-Dabaiba commented on the decision of the Tobruk representatives that he “will not leave the government before elections are held and a new authority is chosen.” Countries friendly to Libya intensified their contacts in order to bridge the gap between the parties and bring viewpoints closer, and the Arab League intervened for the first time in the Libyan crisis, as its Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit chaired a meeting. Including some parties to the Libyan crisis in an attempt to bring viewpoints closer together.

The UN envoy to Libya, Abdullah Batili, had announced the continuation of his consultations with members of the House of Representatives and the Supreme Council of State, and confirmed that he had discussed with Dabaiba the political, security and economic situation in Libya and ways to push the political process forward by reaching a political settlement.

Despite the continuation of the crisis, the planning engineer - who says of himself that “he is not proficient in the art of evasive political terminology” - remained in the leadership of the internationally recognized government of national unity, and confirms that it has succeeded in solving many problems and that it has provided and is offering the Libyan citizen what enhances their stability.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies + websites