Libyan Islamists and independents on Saturday formed a new political party, electing as its leader a Muslim Brotherhood member who was a political prisoner under the regime of dead dictator Moammer Gadhafi.

Mohammed Sawan, jailed for eight years under the ousted regime of Gadhafi who had outlawed political parties as an act of treason, was elected Justice and Construction party leader after a three-day conference in the capital.

“I have real mixed feelings because I was imprisoned under Gadhafi for my attempts to create a political party, and I am grateful to the people here who have placed their trust in me,” Sawan told AFP.

The Tripoli meeting brought together hundreds of people keen to take part in the launch of the new party. Votes on a wide range of issues, including the party‘s name, were taken by a show of hands.

Sawan nailed the support of 51 percent of those present in a run-off vote.

The party charter is still under discussion by an elected body, but Muslim Brothers, Islamists and independents held the conference with the shared aim of forming a “national party with an Islamic frame of reference.”

“We aim for diversity and a state of law where differences in opinion are respected,” Sawan said, later telling journalists that the party sees Islam as a religion that regulates all aspects of life, including politics.

There may be no law governing the formation of political parties in the new Libya, but political associations and coalitions are forming at a rapid pace.

Political associations of any kind were banned for decades under the iron-fisted rule of Gadhafi, who was toppled and killed in last year’s popular uprising.

A sizeable number of the party‘s 1,360 constituent members are former prisoners, including Ali al-Kermi, an elderly Muslim Brother who says he spent three decades in prison for his political activities.

“We want the supremacy of the law and tolerance, not revenge,” Kermi, who now leads an association of former political prisoners, told AFP.

“The party will reject any practice that violates human rights” because so many of its members have experienced such violations first hand, he said, adding that he was “proud of the revolution.”

The conference also set in motion the election of 20 members of the party’s shura council or advisory body. A further 25 members will be elected by party members nationwide, a party official said.

“Everything about this party is based on the democratic principle,” said Nizar Kawan, one of the conference organizers.

The idea of the party was conceived during a November 2011 meeting of the Muslim Brotherhood in Tripoli, Amin Belhaj, another founding member, told journalists.

He said a key goal was to bring together representatives from all of Libya and to include all ethnic groups in the party ranks.

“We have created a new era in Libya by electing a party leader democratically,” said Khalil Sawalim, a UK-based rights activist.

Since the start of the so-called Arab Spring, elections in the region have benefited Islamists, including in Egypt, Libya‘s neighbor to the east, and in Tunisia to the west.

Similar outcomes are expected in June when Libya, which often emphasizes its all-Muslim and moderate identity, is due to elect a constituent assembly. (AFP)