Despite challenges, Libya is making progress on the road to democracy.

While Syria and Egypt dominate the headlines, the developments in Libya are struggling to get attention. Yesterday, Libya’s National Transitional Council handed over power to a newly elected interim legislature which is considered the next step in the country’s transformation after 10 months of unrest since Muammar Gaddafi’s ouster and death. It’s definitely a welcome gesture. Despite the initial hiccups, Libya has been slowly making progress on the road to democracy and its leaders need to be commended for the same. “The National Transitional Council hands over all constitutional authorities in the country to the interim legislature, which is considered from this historical moment the only legitimate representative of the Libyan people,” Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the NTC chairman, told the nation in a televised address. In a region where leaders are inventing dubious ways to cling to power, Mustafa Abdel Jalil has done a wonderful job by handing over power to an elected legislature.

It’s not that the transition is smooth in Libya. The lack of a clear winner in the elections has caused serious concern because the country currently needs a strong government which is capable of taking strong decisions. Demands for autonomy from some regions and the reluctance of militias (which are heavily armed and roaming the streets enforcing their own law) to disband have left the incoming assembly with little flexibility. Rebuilding economy and restoring security is the main task of the new government. The economy cannot be rebuilt unless security and stability are restored and for stability and security to be guaranteed, the armed groups should be disarmed and the government must be run from Tripoli. Abdel Jalil himself had admitted that his interim government was unable to meet public expectations on a number of issues like ensuring security, rehabilitating the refugees and helping those who were wounded in the revolution.

Libya is under watch because it’s the only Arab Spring country where Islamists have failed to make major gains. Unlike in Egypt and Tunisia, Libya’s Islamists came in a distant second in the national elections for the new Congress, with the Muslim Brotherhood’s Justice and Construction Party winning only 17 of the 80 seats reserved for parties. An alliance headed by Mahmoud Jibril, the country’s wartime rebel prime minister, won 39 seats, falling short of a majority. The lack of a clear majority has left both groups struggling for new alliances with the other parties or some of the 120 independents who had won individual seats.

Despite the shortcomings and problems, the new government should focus on rebuilding the economy and restoring stability. What the country needs is a determination from the new lawmakers to make their country a model for the rest of the Middle East.