Libya Government - 1986

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Official name: Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

Type: republic; major overhaul of the constitution and government structure in March 1977 established a system of popular congresses which theoretically controls the General People’s Committee, or cabinet

Capital: Tripoli

Political subdivisions: 46 municipalities closely controlled by central government

Legal system: based on Italian civil law system and Islamic law; separate religious courts; no constitutional provision for judicial review of legislative acts; legal education at Law School at University of Libya at BanghazT; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

National holiday Independence Day, 1 September

Branches: officially, paramount political power and authority rests with the General People’s Congress, which theoretically functions as a parliament with a cabinet called the General People’s Committee

Government leaders.Coi. Muammar Abu Minyar al-QADHAFI (no official title; runs country and is treated as chief of state); Mi-ftah al-Ista ‘UMAR, Secretary of the General People’s Congress (chief of state in theory but not treated as such)

Suffrage: mandatory universal adult

Elections: representatives to the General People’s Congress are drawn from popularly elected municipal committees

Political parties: none

Communists: no organized party, negligible membership

Other political or pressure groups, various Arab nationalist movements and the Arab Socialist Resurrection (Ba'th) party with almost negligible memberships may be functioning clandestinely

Member of: AfDB. Arab League, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB—Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, ITU, NAM, OAPEC, OAU, O1C, OPEC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG

NOTE: The information regarding Libya on this page is re-published from the 1986 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Libya 1986 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Libya 1986 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.