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Libya
The General People's Congress
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
. 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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