There is very little in the way of precedents in the Arab World of any regime giving way to people’s choice of government. That is why the UN has said the peaceful transfer of power from Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC) to the newly elected Libyan parliament surprised the world.

The last time that a regime voluntarily handed over power in the Arab World was when military commander Abdul Rahman Swaredhahab stepped down in favour of a civilian government after running the country for a year in the 1980s.

Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the head of Libya’s NTC which took charge after the ouster of Muammar Qadhafi last year, has handed over power to parliament, which was buzzing with speculation about who the speaker of the house would be, and who the prime minister. Independent, nationalist and Muslim fundamentalist candidates are all in consideration.

A controversy continues about the writing of a new constitution. The NTC had sought to ensure that the constituent assembly would be directly elected by the people, but many in parliament feel that that body should appoint the drafting committee. Critics say that the NTC moved to favour an elected body out of fear that parliament might be dominated by the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood. But in fact the Justice and Construction Party did not do that well in the parliamentary elections and probably could not craft a theocratic charter, and so perhaps the method of choosing the constituent assembly is not so urgent.

Despite some continuing security problems, Libyans were able to have free and fair elections, with only a tiny number of polling stations closed for security reasons. Women won some 20 per cent of the seats, and an unveiled woman made some waves by making some remarks in parliament to mark the transition. An elected prime minister with the backing of the parliament will have a national authority that the NTC signally lacked, and should be able to move to rebuild the national army, the police, and to get the ministries operating. Libya has a significant income from its oil exports, now back up to pre-revolution levels, and so monetary resources are not the problem so much as managerial capacity to spend the money promptly and wisely.

The newly elected parliament has elected former opposition leader Mohammed Al Megarif to become the country’s interim president.

Megarif was a leading figure of the country’s oldest opposition movement, the National Front for the Salvation of Libya, which made several attempts to end Muammar Qadhafi’s 42-year rule, sometimes by plotting assassination attacks.

Until a new constitution is in place sometime next year, Megarif will hold the office replacing Abdul Jalil.

It comes as a refreshing change to the Libyans, who have for long been suffering from a staccato series of bewildering policy changes brought about by Qadhafi that kept the country’s institutions in constant flux and destroyed its economy and civil society. The shift in power in Libya sends a reaffirming message that it is not necessary that Islamists are the dominant power in Muslim countries and that people want people who can offer good governance in power.