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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Libya
Index
Until 1951 Libya was under foreign domination. In November 1949
the United Nations (UN) General Assembly passed a resolution
calling for the establishment of a sovereign Libyan state
comprising three historically diverse regions: Tripolitania,
Cyrenaica, and Fezzan. The UN commissioner for Libya, Adrian Pelt,
suggested the formation of a preparatory committee of twenty-one
Libyans (seven from each region) to initiate the framing of a
constitution. The committee created the National Constituent
Assembly, which first met in November 1950 and subsequently formed
committees to draft a constitution. On October 7, 1951, the new
constitution was promulgated, and on December 24, King Idris
proclaimed Libya's sovereignty and independence
(see The United Nations and Libya
, ch. 1).
The constitution established Libya as a monarchy; succession
was to pass to Idris's designated heirs. Because of its
historically distinct regions, the new country was organized as a
federation, each region becoming a province and maintaining its own
autonomous administration and legislature. Benghazi and Tripoli
alternated as the federation's capital. As do many European
parliamentary systems, the constitution provided for an executive
branch--the Council of Ministers (or cabinet)--headed by a minister
and responsible to the lower house, or Chamber of Deputies, of the
bicameral legislature. The number of deputies was 55, later
increased to 103. The upper house, or Senate, comprised twenty-four
members, eight from each province. The king held considerable
executive authority; he formally appointed the Council of Ministers
and half of the senators and had the right to veto legislation and
dissolve the lower house
(see Independent Libya
, ch. 1).
The king endorsed legislation, passed in April 1963, that
produced a major constitutional revision; the federal form was
replaced by a unitary structure that emphasized centralized
national authority. Provincial boundaries were erased, and ten
smaller governorates (muhafazat; sing., muhafazah)
were created, each headed by a governor appointed by the central
government. The constitution was also modified to provide for the
extension of suffrage to women and for the royal appointment of all
senators. Also, whereas the 1951 constitution had vested
sovereignty in the nation and declared the nation to be the source
of all power, the 1963 revision proclaimed that sovereignty
belonged only to God (Allah) and that it was given as a sacred
trust to the state, which was the source of all power.
The 1951 constitution, as amended in 1963, remained in effect
until September 1, 1969. At that time a group of military officers
and men headed by Captain (later Colonel) Qadhafi overthrew the
monarchy and proclaimed a republic instead
(see The September 1969 Coup
, ch. 1). The supreme organ of the revolutionary regime, the
RCC, replaced the existing constitution with the Constitutional
Proclamation of December 11, 1969, which was to be superseded by a
new constitution at some future, unspecified date. Meanwhile,
existing laws, decrees, and regulations not in conflict with the
December proclamation remained in effect. The proclamation
confirmed the RCC as the supreme authority, officially renamed the
country the Libyan Arab Republic, and provided for a system of
government
(see National Executive and Legislative Evolution
, this
ch.). It vested sovereignty in the people, made Islam the state
religion, and declared Arabic the official language. Education and
health care were specified as constitutional rights.
The December 1969 proclamation declared the Libyan people to be
part of the Arab nation, dedicated to "the realization of socialism
through the application of social justice which forbids any form of
exploitation . . . [The state's] aim is to eliminate peacefully the
disparities between social class[es]." Furthermore, the 1969
proclamation charged the state with endeavoring "to liberate the
national economy from dependence and foreign influence." Public
ownership was proclaimed the basis of social development and selfsufficient productivity, but nonexploitive private property would
be protected, and inheritance would be governed by the Islamic
sharia (see Glossary).
Freedom of opinion was guaranteed "within
the limits of public interest and the principles of the
Revolution."
On the same day that the RCC issued the December 1969
proclamation, it also issued the Decision on the Protection of the
Revolution. The decision established the death penalty for anyone
attempting to overthrow the revolutionary regime and stipulated
imprisonment for "anyone who commits an act of aggression" against
the new government. Aggressive acts were defined as propagandizing
against the regime, arousing class hatred among the people,
spreading false rumors about political and economic conditions in
the country, and demonstrating or striking against the government.
On March 2, 1977, in a novel approach to democratic government,
Libya adopted a provision known as the Declaration of the
Establishment of the People's Authority. The declaration changed
the official name of the country to the Socialist People's Libyan
Arab Jamahiriya (sometimes seen as Jamahiriyah). The word
jamahiriya is derived from the Arabic word
"jumhuriya," meaning "republic." Qadhafi coined the word
Jamahiriya; it has no official translation but unofficially has
been translated as a "state of the masses," "people's authority,"
or "people's power." According to Qadhafi, the jamahiriya system
was to be "a state run by the people without a government," and it
heralded the dawn of a new, more advanced stage in humanity's
political evolution, just as the phase of republics represented an
advancement over the age of monarchies.
Data as of 1987
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