Hadi Fornaji TRIPOLI — Former Polish premier Jerzy Buzek, met Monday with Prime Minister Ali Zidan to discuss Libya's democratic transition and help that the international community as well as the European Union could provide on building democratic institutions. Buzak, who between 2009 and January last year served as president of the European Parliament and is still a MEP, has been in Tripoli at the head of a delegation from the Club de Madrid (CdM). The organization consists of former heads of state and of government who provide advice on democratic leadership and governance and on responses to crises and post-crisis situations, based on their experience. On Saturday, the former Polish leader met with Foreign and International Cooperation Minister Muhamed Abdulaziz. He earlier met with the President of the General National Congress, Mohamed Magarief. The visit, supported by the European Union, is part of efforts to bring CdM members' experience to policy-makers in Libya — as well as Jordan and Tunisia which are also undergoing democratic reform and which Buzak is visiting as well. In addition to democracy building, his talks in Libya focused on constitution drafting, the involvement in women in the political and economic spheres, security, human rights and transitional justice and Libyan economic reform and diversification as well as potential international investment in the country. The Polish leader was also given a presentation by Congressman Sulaiman Zubi from Benghazi on last July elections. The Club de Madrid says it hopes to return to Libya shortly to develop and implement a number of projects. Buzak's was the second top-level CdM mission to Libya. The first, led by former Dutch prime minister Wim Kok, was in June 2012. Buzak, as President of the European Parliament, was one of the first international leaders in February 2011 to condemn the Gaddafi regime's “inhuman brutality” toward protestors, calling it “a point of no-return”. As president, he then visited Tripoli in October 2011 for talks on forging closer ties between Libya and the EU. — Libya Herald
