‘It’s time for women to take part in the new Libya’ – health minister Fatima Hamroush

After four decades of dictatorship marked by tyranny, suppression, torture, human rights violation and oppression of women, Libya was finally freed of Col Muammar Gaddafi.

Dubbed as the 'Mad Dog of the Middle East' by Ronald Reagan, Gaddafi saw his stronghold of Tripoli fall in the hands of the Libyan revolutionaries in August 2011. Two months later, a defiant Gaddafi was captured and killed in his hometown of Sirte.

A revolution sparked by protests in Tunisia and Egypt, the Arab Spring saw not only the downfall of the Libyan tyrant but also the birth of hope that Libya could become a democratic country where the State does not control an individual's political affiliation and where women can advance in society without the constant fear of being raped or tortured.

A landmark decision undertaken by Libya's National Transitional Council, and highly crucial for the country's long road towards democracy and equality, was the passage of a new electoral law which guarantees women at least 40 seats on the 200-member Constituent Assembly that will draft the country's new Constitution.

In contrast to women living in countries in the region, Libyan women received the legal right to vote in 1964. The first women's group dates back to 1955 in Benghazi. While there were a number of laws under the Gaddafi regime which safeguarded the women's right to work, social security and financial independence, women were not necessarily safe. Manal Omar, the Director of the United States Institute of Peace's programmes on Iraq, Iran and North Africa, said that "sexual harassment was part and parcel of any promotion in the political system" under the Gaddafi regime. So while all eyes are on Libya, waiting for the elections to take place next June, Prime Minister Abdulrahman Keib's cabinet already has two female ministers.

I meet the new Libyan Health Minister, Fatima Hamroush, on Tuesday during the official handover of the two Mirages.

Her determination to see the rebuilding of her country is clear: it is definitely not easy being one of the two women to make it at the helm of the country's leadership... a country known for the way women were treated by the former dictatorship.

The Libyan jets had landed in Malta on 21 February, 2011 when their pilots defected from the Gaddafi regime after they refused to carry out orders to bombard Benghazi.

"What the two pilots did was so heroic and brave, we were terrified of what could happen to them at the time. We couldn't digest the idea of them being ordered to go and bombard Benghazi. But what they did was so brave, I wish I was going back home on the planes with them today," Hamroush says.

Hamroush gives off a positive vibe, a woman determined to see her country get back on its feet and show the world that Libya can also form part of a peaceful international community.

When I ask her what it means for Libya to have female ministers, her reply was simple. "It means it's a good thing, to be honest," Hamroush says.

"Women had and still have a strong presence in the revolution. I personally don't know how the revolution would have unfolded without women and the way they acted."

However, she warns that the toppling of the Gaddafi regime is not enough: "It's time for women to keep going. They shouldn't stop now or hold back from taking active part in the new Libya."

Hamroush says women are treated with respect and dignity inside the new government. "We get the best treatment and all women colleagues in the ministries get the best treatment. It's a new era ... an era which can attract further women," she says.

She adds that she knows a lot of women who excel at what they do and have a lot to offer: "And they will come forward because they know they will not be exploited or treated in an undignifying way."

Hamroush's appointment fills her with pride, not only because it is a personal achievement but because of what it represents to the Libyan women: "I consider myself not only a minister but also an ambassador to the world of Libyan women."

Unfortunately, the country is once again making news for the reported fighting between tribes in the eastern desert. Hamroush contests statements that the fighting has become regular, but describes it as "occasional" fighting.

"Some of them are based on personal reasons, while others are between tribes," she says, referring to the recent clashes between the two rival tribes, Tabu and Zwai.

Hamroush adds that every time things quiet down, a "fifth column" - a group of people who clandestinely undermine a larger group from within - disrupts the process and something else occurs.

"It's really something nobody wants to see but it is being brought up again. This is not new but, with the arms in the people's hands it got more violent ... It will calm down, We know it will calm down," she repeats reassuringly.

NTC is currently in the process of collecting the arms from the civilians. Hamroush says that NTC "is agreeing with the armed young men" and making them understand that the war is over. At the same time she admits it's not an easy task collecting the arms: "We are slowly working on this because it's not easy for somebody, who has defended his honour with it, to ask them to give it back.

"They're still holding on to them because they don't know what's going to happen. It's a normal human reaction: it's going to take a little time but it is going to settle."

Hamroush says it is normal that those who fought needed assurance that NTC was truly turning in to a peaceful country.

"They will themselves hand in the guns. Some already have and they're being recruited for jobs. They are happy and they have moved on.

"Some others need more time. It's a normal human reaction. We know it's going to take a little time but it's going to settle. We are very confident about that."

FACTBOX

Fatima Hamroush, born in Benghazi on 14 February, 1960, is an ophthalmologist by profession. She moved to Ireland in 1996 and later obtained Irish citizenship. Hamroush, a mother of four, is a member of the Irish College of Ophthalmologists. Until becoming Health Minister, Hamroush held the position of consultant ophthalmologist at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, Ireland.

Last November, she was named Libya's first female Health Minister.

In an interview with the Irish Times, Hamroush said she learnt she would become the new minister on a Sunday, and the following day it was announced on TV.