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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Libya
Index
A busy street in Benghazi
Courtesy Keith Daber
The executive system comprising the RCC and the Council of
Ministers continued to operate into 1977, with occasional cabinet
shuffles. In late 1976, Qadhafi emerged from relative isolation to
resume leadership of the RCC. On the seventh anniversary of the
Revolution, September 1, 1976, Qadhafi introduced a plan to
reorganize the Libyan state. The plan's primary feature was a
proposal that a new representative body (the GPC) replace the RCC
as the supreme instrument of government. A five-member General
Secretariat was created to stand at the apex of the GPC.
The details of the plan were included in the draft Declaration
of the Establishment of the People's Authority, adopted by the GPC
in extraordinary session on March 2, 1977. The declaration included
several basic points: the change in the country's name to the
Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, the establishment of
popular direct authority through a system culminating in the GPC,
and the assignment of responsibility for defending the homeland to
every man and woman through general military training.
The GPC also adopted resolutions that designated Qadhafi as its
secretary general; created the General Secretariat of the GPC,
which comprised the remaining members of the defunct RCC; and
appointed the General People's Committee, which replaced the
Council of Ministers, its members now called secretaries rather
than ministers
(see
fig. 11). For symbolic reasons, initially no
secretary of defense was appointed within the General People's
Committee, defense having become the responsibility of all
citizens.
Since its formation the GPC has met in ordinary session
annually, usually for about two weeks in November or December.
Delegates numbered over 1,000, somewhat more than 60 percent of
whom were leaders of the ASU basic and municipal popular congresses
(see Subnational Government and Administration
, this ch.). Other
delegates included the members of the General Secretariat of the
GPC and the General People's Committee, leaders of the
geographically based zone and municipal people's committees, and
representatives from functionally based organizations.
With the RCC and the Council of Ministers abolished, all
executive and legislative authority technically was vested in the
GPC. The GPC, however, formally delegated most of its important
authority to its general secretary and General Secretariat and to
the General People's Committee. In its December 1978 session, the
GPC authorized the General People's Committee to appoint
ambassadors, and the secretary of foreign affairs was authorized to
receive the credentials of foreign diplomats. The General People's
Committee, in accordance with conditions established at the GPC's
December 1978 session and on recommendation of the Secretariat of
Interior, awards and cancels Libyan citizenship. The GPC retains
the power to select the president and judges of the Supreme Court,
the governor and deputy governor of the Central Bank of Libya, the
attorney general, and other high officials. The suggestions and
advice of the GPC General Secretariat and the General People's
Committee probably are decisive regarding such appointments,
however. The General Secretariat appoints the members of the
General People's Committee.
The GPC has the formal power to declare war, ratify treaties
with other countries, and consider general policy plans and their
implementation. In these and other functions, however, it is again
subject to the advice of the General People's Committee and the
supervision of the general secretary and General Secretariat, which
make the final decisions. Yet it would be inaccurate to dismiss the
GPC as a mere rubber stamp. It has functioned as a clearinghouse
and sounding board, receiving the views of the masses (through
lower level representative congresses, committees, and functional
organizations) and transmitting them to the General Secretariat and
General People's Committee. Conversely, it transmits the decisions
of the national leadership to the masses, encouraging mass
participation in the political system and lending legitimacy to
General Secretariat decisions and policies through advice and
formal approval. Qadhafi served as secretary general of the GPC
until March 1979, at which time he once again formally resigned
from all his positions to devote himself to revolutionary action
and, in his words, to ensure the "separation of the state from the
Revolution."
Data as of 1987
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