Gaddafi and Libya

There have been many significant events and conflicts that occurred in the Middle East. Some that existed in the search for justice and some that existed for political power. Countries have tried to establish rules and laws to create a better. Many countries in the Middle East are facing the same problem such as Libya. In Libya Gaddafi has put a lot of effort to make a utopia through his ideology and the Green Book, but instead this lead to corruption. The Libyan Constitution of October 7, 1951 was established to ratify the rights of the Libyan citizen, yet it forecasted a controversial conflict due to the Libyan nation state. It eventually contributed the way for Gaddafi’s rise to power who ultimately replaced Libyan law with his “Green Book”. This paper will explain the flaws of the 1951 constitution and how Gaddafi replaced it. The terms of the constitution that helped the postwar creation of the Libyan nation state were significant. The constitution allowed the citizens or the people of Libya to be pleased to have such justification. It had laws such as no slavery and that no slave trade can be acceptable. One of the laws that helped secure the citizens from being abused was the one that says that nobody can be tortured or be beat cruelly. This permitted the citizens to know that the people in power cannot crucially punish them. It basically allows the citizen to know that whomever the ruler maybe, they cannot act unfairly towards them. Another significant law was the law that allowed the people to have the right to own property. This permits the citizen to feel safe from the land being taken away by the government. This also means that people have the ability to own numerous amounts of land and not only for necessary reasoning. Although the constitution was based on Islamic principles it included the law that gave citizens the freedom of belief. In one of the articles in the constitution it mentioned that Islam was the state of the Religion. Constitution in general gives institutions a way to govern a state in an ethical manner. It allows the citizen to have freedom, be secure, and make life seem valuable. The government was set to be monarchy. Yet even though the constitution might have seen as a backbone to solve all the solutions it still had some flaws. The country according to the constitution was run by a king and the king according to the constitution was the one who had the highest power. The king also had the ability to be exempt from all responsibility and that if something goes wrong the king shall not be solemnly blamed for it. The king not being blamed for any responsibility might have seemed unfair to some. Since Libya was monarchy based government, the king had the ability to make and provide law. Thus most of legislative laws were rendered by the king. The king also had the ability to engage in any peace treaties that he shall desire as well as engage in any war. The king also acted as a judge, such as he was the only one who had the ability to sentence a person. These rules might have seemed unfair, but this form of government can work at times. The main issue with this is that it gives the king too much power, yet the constitution protects the citizens from any injustice acts from the hierarchy. If power were to become in hands of wrong hands such as a tyrant, then it can create severe damage to the people as well as the country. Since this form of monarchy did not seem proper at that time, it was sure that this was going to be overthrown. This form of government was soon overthrown by Gaddafi. Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi put an end to that monarchy and the National Assembly. King Idris was no longer a king anymore and he was exiled to Egypt. This then made the 1951 Constitution invalid. Gaddafi becoming in power, began to set his own way of running the country. Eventually he will create a political book that describes how a state should be in ruled and how it should be governed. He tried to take control over small companies, culture, and even education. At one point he makes teaching his methods mandatory in schools so it can be thought. This book was called the Green Book which was published in 1975. The Green book becomes a major part of the country. The main purpose of the Green Book was to help the country create a new society according to Gaddafi. It was mentioned in the article Qaddafi Rebuilds Libya According to His Unique Ideology “Guided by radical and bizarre principles of Colonel Muammar Qaddafi’s Green book, Libya is carrying out a total revolution in its political and economic life with the aim of achieving Qaddafi’s vision of the “new socialist society”.” (Leppman 1) The Green Book mainly covered governance, economics, and society. Gaddafi had tried to make Islam part of this strategy too as he bans uses of alcohol and gambling. This book also spoke about how wealth and private property will be controlled. This was included in the second part of the book “The Solution of the Economic Problem” which was considered as an assault of people’s wealth and property. It was by pointed out by Thomas Leppman that “Private houses are being confiscated under a law that bans owning more than one dwelling, and next step is to be a ban on the accumulation of capital or savings by individuals.”(Leppman 1)Green Book also resulted in ban of sports for many years because it was mentioned in it that “sport is a public activity that must be practiced rather than watched.” (Smith 1) The Green Book highlights that every Libyan is allowed to have the basic needs that are necessary and personal. This means that food, clothing, and transportation are a necessity of a person’s life, thus ownership of such should be permitted to everyone. Gaddafi’s aim for this book was to create a revolution through this ideology he had created. Why and how Gaddafi had come about with the Green Book and its ideology? As Gaddafi was growing up he seen others who were seemingly rich and powerful to be helpless. He thought that they were the ones who were corrupt because they chose not to help others who were in need. ““Look at the Targets he attacked”, a Libyan political scientist said, “the intellects, the bourgeoisie, the powerful tribes, the big landowners. These were very people who never did anything for Gaddafi when he was growing up. To Qaddafi, These traditional leaders were corrupt, self-serving, and compromised by their subservience to European and American interests.” (Leppman 2) Libya having such great oil revenue helped Gaddafi to move his ideas along the country. Gaddafi did not want people of Libya to gain more wealth than it was necessary because that means that the same wealth is being taken away from others who could have earned that money as well. Yet Gaddafi was not ought to set out a communist government, but it did have some of its characteristics. He did get closer and closer to the communist regime, but it was still not that type of government. It was more towards a socialist form to what he was trying to aim for. He was also trying to create his own form of government by mixing his own ideas into the socialist concept. The reason for this book and his ideology was to improve Libya in very rapid ways. Gaddafi wanted Libya to become a utopia, which many should realize that creating a perfect society is merely impossible. Libya today and Gaddafi’s control. Gaddafi after forty years of ruling Libya has finally come to a time where he is losing it all. One of the leaders of the Al Warfalla tribe, which is the largest in Libya, had said that "We tell the brother Gaddafi, well he's no longer a brother, we tell him to leave the country."(Benari 1) Many Libyans are against Gaddafi and want him overthrown any way possible. Protest and riots are arising all over Libya to overthrow Gaddafi and his rulings. It’s getting worse in Libya as gunshots and violence are increasing day by day to get rid of this. Gaddafi’s response is not to get of the seat of power, but instead to fight back and try to gain control of Libya again. Gaddafi also warned Libya that they were in the verge of a civil war as it is becoming more violent. Sooner or later Gaddafi will need to step out of the office and accept the Libyan want.
A new constitution might be created if Gaddafi steps down. Some of the laws from the old constitution of 1951 might also be adapted to the new one if created. The Libyan Constitution of 1951 was created during the rule of King Idris who was overthrown by Gaddafi in 1969. The constitution made the citizens feel safer and worthwhile and was a way of solving all the problems. Yet this construction did have some flaws of its own due to its monarchist government. Gaddafi coming in power began to set out his own rules. He also created the Green Book. The Green Book was a political book provided Gaddafi’s ideas of governance, economics, and society. It set out a more socialist form of government. It also brought out rules such as a specific amount of land one can own. Gaddafi’s ideology was created because he thought that all the rich and the old leaders were not helpful in any way to the needy and poor. Gaddafi lasted in power for forty years and finally he is beginning to lose it as Libyan citizens are rebelling and are almost at a verge of a civil war.