Libya has bucked the Islamist political trend in North Africa in its first post-Qadhafi democratic election on 7 July for a 200-seat interim national assembly, which will elect a prime minister and cabinet and prepare for full parliamentary polls next year. When the results were announced on 17 July it was the relatively secular and liberal National Forces Alliance (NFA) coalition headed by former prime minister Mahmud Jibril which came out ahead with 39 of the 80 seats allocated to parties, while the political arm of the Libyan Ikhwan al-Muslimin, the Justice and Construction Party, won only 17. This was generally thought to reflect a rejection of the international isolation of the Qadhafi years rather than any denial of Libya's Islamic identity. Nor does it necessarily mean that Libya's new government will not have an Islamic orientation, since with 120 seats in the assembly reserved for independent candidates, its make-up is likely to be determined by the complex interplay of regional, tribal, ethnic and sectarian considerations.