Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafiwas the longest-serving leader in the Arab world. He ruled Libya after he took it over from King Idris I in 1969.Gaddafi was born on 7th June, 1942 in Qasr Abu Hadi located outside the town of Sirte in western Libya. He attended a Muslim elementary school in Sabha. During his schooling, he was profoundly influenced by major events in the Arab world especially the Arab nationalist movement. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser became his idol. Gaddafi joined the army in the 1960s as a supporter of Arab nationalism.
In 1959, significant oil reserves were discovered in Libya. Revenue from petroleum exports moved Libya from being one of the poorest nations, to becoming a wealthy state. However, people began to resent the increased concentration of wealth in the hands of King Idris. This discontent grew with the rise of Nasserism and Arab nationalism throughout North Africa and the Middle East. In August 1969, King Idris was in Turkey for medical treatment. On September 1, 1969 a group of 70 junior Libyan military officers led by Muammar Gaddafi took the opportunity to stage a bloodless overthrow (coup d’état). The coup started in Benghazi, by members of Libyan Signal Corps. They placed the crown prince, Sayyid as-Sanussi under house arrest
The coup leaders were referred to as the Free Officers’ Movement. They declared an end to monarchy in Libya and renamed the country the Libyan Arab Republic. The movement then evolved into the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC). On September 7, 1969, they announced the formation of a cabinet to conduct the business of the new republic. The next day, RCC promoted captain Muammar-al-Gaddafi to colonel and appointed him the commander in chief of the Libyan Armed Forces. Gaddafi emerged as the new de facto head of the state.
Gaddafi was considered a skilled political operator who moved swiftly to bring his country out of diplomatic isolation. After coming to power the government initiated the process of directing funds towards education, health care and housing. Public education became free and primary education compulsory for both the sexes leading to an increase in literacy rate to 89%.Medical care was available free of cost. People benefited from free electricity and interest free loans. The Libyans enjoyed low prices of gasoline. Furthermore, homes were considered a human right. Newly married couples received some capital from the government to buy a house. Under his governance Libya reached a very high standard of living. Gaddafi encouraged farming; he provided farming equipment, house, livestock and seeds to anyone who wished to be a farmer. The government engaged in the development of huge irrigational projects and developed a great man made river.
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Libya saw a high rise to real GDP 8888 USD in 2009. He first set about tackling the unfair economic legacy of foreign domination Earlier major oil extraction was controlled by foreign petroleum companies. He put a rest to this practise and demanded renegotiation of contracts, threatening to shut off production if refused. Libya thus, became the first developing country to secure a majority share of the revenues from its own oil production leading to what turned out to be the beginning of the Arab petro-boom. This nationalized the nation’s oil resources using it to develop the infrastructure.
Gaddafi’s ideologies are presented in his green book which is a mixture of capitalism and socialism combined with Islamic ideas. His political philosophy was called the Third Universal Theory. This theory claims that in order to put the world on a path of political, economic and social revolution, a solution to the contradictions inherent in capitalism and communism is required. He believed that there is no true democracy except Libya. The model that was created in reality was a hierarchical pyramid with the Gaddafi family and their close allies at the top wielding power, with the entire army at their command. In the parallel world, this system was called ‘Jamahiriya’, or State of The Masses. In this system power is meant to be held by thousands of peoples’ committees. It is ironical to note that a text whose alleged objective was to break the shackles imposed by the vested interests dominating political systems was used to dominate an entire population.
"Gaddafi, gradually as he took power, he used force and he used brutality," Mohammed al-Abdalla, the deputy secretary-general of the National front for Salvation of Libya, Throughout his rule, Colonel Gaddafi sanctioned violence on his opponents. He made huge profits from Libya’s oil dealings. Gaddafi’s Green Book and his ideology were made compulsory part of school curriculum. He controlled the social media and used it for his propaganda, only a few had access to internet. His autocratic rule was the major cause that led to his assassination. Till the very end, Gaddafi had complete confidence in his style of ruling. He refused to believe that his people could turn against him and said “All my people love me”.
On June 27 2011 the International criminal Court (ICC) issued warrants for Gaddafi, his son Seif-al-Islam, and Libya’s intelligence chief, Abdullah Sanussi on charges of crimes against humanity for their roles in attacks on civilians, including peaceful demonstrators. Gaddafi punished people who opposed him with life imprisonment or death sentences. Many people preferred to go into an exile rather than subjugate to his system of governance. His troops raped women who voiced opposition to his regime. Even while doing well for the country, Gaddafi managed to isolate his people because of his inability to withstand criticism.
Gaddafi determined Libya’s foreign policy since 1969; his basic principle was Arab Unity and elimination of Western Influences in the Arab World. He nationalised Libya’s oil in a big way by increasing the price of export oil. U.S. and Libya had a lot of clashes since Gaddafi rose to power. U.S. withdrew its embassy staff members from Tripoli after a mob attacked and set fire to the embassy in December 1979. They also closed the Libyan "people's bureau" (embassy) in Washington, D.C. and expelled the Libyan staff in response to their conduct of generally violating internationally accepted standards of diplomatic behaviour. U.S. government banned imports of Libyan crude oil in March 1982. They also controlled the goods exported. All export-import banking was prohibited. A major event that took place was the Lockerbie bombing. Pan Am flight 103 from London to New York on the 21st of December, 1988 exploded over Lockerbie, killing all the 259 people on board. Two Libyans were prosecuted for this bombing, but Libya wanted its men to be tried in the Libyan courts only. Later in April 1998, due to U.N pressure, the Libyan government accepted a trial in a neutral country. One of the convicted was sentenced to life imprisonment and the other was acquitted. On 19th August, 2003, Libya accepted the blame for Lockerbie bombing and agreed to compensate the victims’ families. In 2003 the Libyan government started making changes in its policies with the intention of a better relationship with the West. . The progress made by Gaddafi’s government in improving relations with the West was set back by the regime’s autocratic crackdown on the protests in 2011.
Gaddafi has been referred to as a “mad dog” by U.S. president Ronald Reagen,. Gaddafi’s rule has been autocratic to the extent that even when he is gone, his presence in the way of his laws is still felt. Libyan’s have been under dictatorship in the name of democracy since 42 years till 2011. Gaddafi was undoubtedly a brilliant administrator. But is that all a country need? The violence he inflicted on Libyan’s and the way he isolated them to an extent was the cause of the uprisings in 2011.
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