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The Kingdom of Libya ( ar, المملكة الليبية, lit=Libyan Kingdom, translit=Al-Mamlakah Al-Lībiyya; it, Regno di Libia), known as the United Kingdom of Libya from 1951 to 1963, was a
constitutional monarchy A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...
in
North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
which came into existence upon independence on 24 December 1951 and lasted until a coup d'état on 1 September 1969. The coup, led by
Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by '' The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...
, overthrew
King Idris Muhammad Idris bin Muhammad al-Mahdi as-Senussi ( ar, إدريس, Idrīs; 13 March 1890 – 25 May 1983) was a Libyan political and religious leader who was King of Libya from 24 December 1951 until his overthrow on 1 September 1969. He ruled o ...
and established the
Libyan Arab Republic Muammar Gaddafi became the ''de facto'' leader of Libya on 1 September 1969 after leading a group of young Libyan Army officers against King Idris I in a bloodless coup d'état. After the king had fled the country, the Revolutionary Comma ...
.


History


Constitution

Under the constitution of October 1951, the federal monarchy of Libya was headed by
King Idris Muhammad Idris bin Muhammad al-Mahdi as-Senussi ( ar, إدريس, Idrīs; 13 March 1890 – 25 May 1983) was a Libyan political and religious leader who was King of Libya from 24 December 1951 until his overthrow on 1 September 1969. He ruled o ...
as chief of state, with succession to his designated male heirs (Art. 44 and 45 of the 1951 Constitution). Substantial political power resided with the king. The executive arm of the government consisted of a prime minister and Council of Ministers designated by the king but also responsible to the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of a bicameral legislature. The Senate, or upper house, consisted of eight representatives from each of the three provinces. Half of the senators were nominated by the king, who also had the right to veto legislation and to dissolve the lower house. Local autonomy in the provinces was exercised through provincial governments and legislatures. Tripoli and
Benghazi Benghazi () , ; it, Bengasi; tr, Bingazi; ber, Bernîk, script=Latn; also: ''Bengasi'', ''Benghasi'', ''Banghāzī'', ''Binghāzī'', ''Bengazi''; grc, Βερενίκη ('' Berenice'') and ''Hesperides''., group=note (''lit. Son of he Ghaz ...
served alternately as the national capital. The Constitution was drafted under the auspices of the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
, and was seen to include significant mechanisms for the protection of human rights. Ultimately, the document established an institutional apparatus that promoted transparency and safeguards against antidemocratic power accumulation. In particular, the Constitution envisioned mechanisms to guarantee accountability in the exercise of public functions and equality of all Libyan citizens before the law. At the time it was produced, it was received as a positive and forward-thinking model of good governance and balance of powers for the region.


Political development

Several factors, rooted in Libya's history, affected the political development of the newly independent country. They reflected the differing political orientations of the provinces and the ambiguities inherent in Libya's monarchy. First, after the first Libyan general election, 1952, which was held on 19 February, political parties were abolished. The National Congress Party, which had campaigned against a federal form of government, was defeated throughout the country. The party was outlawed, and Bashir Saadawi was deported. Second, provincial ties continued to be more important than national ones, and the federal and provincial governments were constantly in dispute over their respective spheres of authority. A third problem derived from the lack of a direct heir to the throne. To remedy this situation, Idris in 1953 designated his sixty-year-old brother to succeed him. When the original heir apparent died, the king appointed his nephew, Prince Hasan ar Rida, his successor. When a group of young officers and soldiers seized power under the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi on 1 September 1969, the Crown Prince, who was then ruling the country on behalf of King Idris was imprisoned for two years and subsequently reduced to complete isolation during the following seven years under house arrest. Publicly humiliated by Gaddafi's circle, he suffered a stroke that led him to seek medical treatment in the UK in 1988. He then travelled to Europe with his second son, Prince Mohammed El Hassan El Rida El Senussi, and died in 1992 in London surrounded by his family. When, on 18 June 1992, the last will of the late Crown Prince was read at a press conference at the presence of the press and of his five children,
Prince Mohammed George Nooks, Prince Mohamed, Prince Mohammed, or George Knooks (born c. 1958 in Kingston, Jamaica) is a reggae singer who initially found fame as a deejay. Biography Nooks started his musical career in the youth choir at his church, and move ...
was formally appointed as the legitimate heir to the throne of Libya.


Foreign policy

In its foreign policy, the Kingdom of Libya was recognized as belonging to the conservative traditionalist bloc in the
League of Arab States League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * '' The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact foo ...
, of which it became a member in 1953. The
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...
was in close alliance with the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
and
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
; both countries maintained military base rights in Libya. The U.S. supported the
United Nations resolution A United Nations resolution (UN resolution) is a formal text adopted by a United Nations (UN) body. Although any UN body can issue resolutions, in practice most resolutions are issued by the Security Council or the General Assembly. Legal ...
providing for Libyan independence in 1951 and raised the status of its office at Tripoli from a consulate general to a
legation A legation was a diplomatic representative office of lower rank than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an ambassador, a legation was headed by a minister. Ambassadors outranked ministers and had precedence at official events. Legations ...
. Libya opened a legation at Washington, D.C. in 1954. Both countries subsequently raised their missions to the
embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually den ...
level and exchanged
ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or s ...
s. In 1953, Libya concluded a twenty-year treaty of friendship and alliance with the United Kingdom under which the latter received military bases in exchange for financial and military assistance. The next year, Libya and the United States signed an agreement under which the United States also obtained military base rights, subject to renewal in 1970, in return for economic aid to Libya. The most important of the United States installations in Libya was
Wheelus Air Base Wheelus Air Base was a United States Air Force base located in British-occupied Libya and the Kingdom of Libya from 1943 to 1970. At one time it was the largest US military facility outside the US. It had an area of on the coast of Tripoli. Th ...
, near Tripoli, considered a strategically valuable installation in the 1950s and early 1960s. Reservations set aside in the desert were used by British and American military aircraft based in Europe as practice firing ranges. Libya forged close ties with
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
,
Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...
,
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
, and established full diplomatic relations with the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
in 1955, but declined a Soviet offer of economic aid. As part of a broad assistance package, the UN Technical Assistance Board agreed to sponsor a technical aid program that emphasized the development of agriculture and education. The
University of Libya The University of Libya ( ar, الجامعة الليبية) was a public university based in Tripoli and Benghazi, Libya. The university was established in 1955 and disestablished in 1973, when its colleges were split into two new universities ...
was founded in 1955 by royal decree in Benghazi. Foreign powers, notably Britain and the United States, provided development aid. Steady economic improvement occurred, but the pace was slow, and Libya remained a poor and underdeveloped country heavily dependent on foreign aid.


Development of the nation

This situation changed suddenly and dramatically in June 1959 when research prospectors from
Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (the phonetic ...
(later renamed
Exxon ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 3 ...
) confirmed the location of major petroleum deposits at Zaltan in
Cyrenaica Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika ( ar, برقة, Barqah, grc-koi, Κυρηναϊκή ��παρχίαKurēnaïkḗ parkhíā}, after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between ...
. Further discoveries followed, and commercial development was quickly initiated by concession holders who returned 50 percent of their profits to the Libyan government in taxes. In the petroleum market, Libya's advantages lay not only in the quantity but also in the high quality of its crude product. Libya's proximity and direct linkage to Europe by sea were further marketing advantages. The discovery and exploitation of petroleum turned the vast, sparsely populated, impoverished country into an independently wealthy nation with potential for extensive development and thus constituted a major turning point in Libyan history. Libya's petroleum law, initially passed in 1955, was amended in 1961 and again in 1965 to increase the Libyan government's share of the revenues from oil. As development of petroleum resources progressed in the early 1960s, Libya launched its first Five-Year Plan, 1963–68. One negative result of the new wealth from petroleum, however, was a decline in agricultural production, largely through neglect. Internal Libyan politics continued to be stable, but the federal form of government had proven inefficient and cumbersome. In April 1963, Prime Minister Mohieddin Fikini secured adoption by parliament of a bill, endorsed by the king, that abolished the federal form of government, establishing in its place a unitary, monarchical state with a dominant central government. By legislation, the historical divisions of
Cyrenaica Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika ( ar, برقة, Barqah, grc-koi, Κυρηναϊκή ��παρχίαKurēnaïkḗ parkhíā}, after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between ...
,
Tripolitania Tripolitania ( ar, طرابلس '; ber, Ṭrables, script=Latn; from Vulgar Latin: , from la, Regio Tripolitana, from grc-gre, Τριπολιτάνια), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province o ...
, and
Fezzan Fezzan ( , ; ber, ⴼⵣⵣⴰⵏ, Fezzan; ar, فزان, Fizzān; la, Phazania) is the southwestern region of modern Libya. It is largely desert, but broken by mountains, uplands, and dry river valleys (wadis) in the north, where oases enable ...
were to be eliminated and the country divided into ten new provinces, each headed by an appointed governor. The legislature revised the constitution in 1963 to reflect the change from a federal to a
unitary state A unitary state is a sovereign state governed as a single entity in which the central government is the supreme authority. The central government may create (or abolish) administrative divisions (sub-national units). Such units exercise only th ...
.


International relations

In regional affairs, Libya enjoyed the advantage of not having aggravated boundary disputes with its neighbors. Libya was one of the thirty founding members of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), established in 1963, and in November 1964 participated with
Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...
,
Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...
, and
Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...
in forming a joint consultative committee aimed at economic cooperation among North African states. Although it supported Arab causes, including the Moroccan and Algerian independence movements, Libya took little active part in the Arab-Israeli dispute or the tumultuous inter-Arab politics of the 1950s and the early 1960s. Nevertheless, the brand of Arab nationalism advanced by Egypt's
Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced far-r ...
exercised an increasing influence, particularly among the younger Libyan generation that were influenced by the influx of Egyptian teachers into Libya. As one report suggests:
The presence of Egyptian teachers explains why so many classrooms show the influence of Egyptian propaganda. Pupils do crayon drawings of Egyptian troops winning victories over Israel or Britain. In Benghazi, Libya, a complete course in Egyptian history is given to secondary school students. A display in a high school art exhibit showed pictures of the leading rules of Egypt; on one side were the "bad" rulers, on the other the "good" rulers. The bad rulers began with the Pharaoh Cheops, who enslaved his people to build the pyramids, and ended with Farouk. The good rulers began with the idealistic Pharaoh Ikhnaton and ended with, of course, Gamal Abdel Nasser.
In response to anti-Western agitation in 1964, Libya's essentially pro-Western government requested the evacuation of British and American bases before the dates specified in the treaties. Most British forces were in fact withdrawn in 1966, although the evacuation of foreign military installations, including Wheelus Air Base, was not completed until March 1970. The June 1967 War between Israel and its Arab neighbors aroused a strong reaction in Libya, particularly in Tripoli and Benghazi, where dock and oil workers as well as students were involved in violent demonstrations. The United States and British embassies and oil company offices were damaged in rioting. Members of the small Jewish community were also attacked, prompting the emigration of almost all remaining Libyan Jews. The government restored order, but thereafter attempts to modernize the small and ineffective Libyan armed forces and to reform the grossly inefficient Libyan bureaucracy foundered upon conservative opposition to the nature and pace of the proposed reforms. Although Libya was clearly on record as supporting Arab causes in general, the country did not play an important role in Arab politics. At the Arab summit conference held at
Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...
in September 1967, however, Libya, along with
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Ara ...
and
Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Ku ...
, agreed to provide generous subsidies from oil revenues to aid
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
,
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, and
Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
, defeated in June by Israel. Also, Idris first broached the idea of taking collective action to increase the price of oil on the world market. Libya, nonetheless, continued its close association with the West, while Idris' government steered an essentially conservative course at home.


1969 coup and end of the monarchy

The monarchy came to an end on 1 September 1969 when a group of military officers led by
Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by '' The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...
staged a coup d'état against King Idris while he was in
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
for medical treatment. The revolutionaries arrested the army chief of staff and the head of security in the kingdom. After hearing about the coup, King Idris dismissed it as "unimportant". The coup pre-empted King Idris' instrument of abdication dated 4 August 1969 to take effect 2 September 1969 in favour of the Crown Prince, who had been appointed regent following the king's departure for Turkey. Following the overthrow of the monarchy the country was renamed the Libyan Arab Republic. In 2013 the African Union commemorated King Idris' legacy as an African hero and the architect of Libya's independence from Italy's colonial rule in a public event. In fact, Idris remains widely regarded as the father of an independent and unified Libya who led the country through its resistance to the colonial powers. As a quiet but firm ruler, he played a unifying role both in Libya, between the various strains of Islam and the plethora of Libyan tribes, and across the region. He is remembered as "uncompromising" against his enemies, no matter the consequences of his actions. The obituary posted by Associated Press in 1983 recalled that he stripped thirty members of the royal household of their privileges and rights, exiled seven princes and ruled in favor of the execution of one of his nephew who had murdered a trusted royal adviser.


Aftermath


2011 Libyan revolution

Although the king and the crown prince died in exile and most of the younger generation of Libyans were born after the monarchy, the Senussi dynasty has enjoyed somewhat of a comeback during the
2011 Libyan civil war The First Libyan Civil War was an armed conflict in 2011 in the North African country of Libya that was fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and rebel groups that were seeking to oust Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, his government. It ...
, especially in the dynasty's traditional stronghold of
Cyrenaica Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika ( ar, برقة, Barqah, grc-koi, Κυρηναϊκή ��παρχίαKurēnaïkḗ parkhíā}, after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between ...
. Opposition demonstrators to Colonel Gaddafi used the old tricolour flag of the monarchy, some carried portraits of the king, and played the old national anthem ''
Libya, Libya, Libya "Libya, Libya, Libya" ( ar, ليبيا ليبيا ليبيا ), also known as "" ( en, "O my country!"), is the national anthem of Libya since 2011; it was previously the national anthem of the Kingdom of Libya from 1955 to 1969. It was compose ...
''. Two of the surviving Senussi exiles were planning to return to Libya to support the protestors.


Government

The United Kingdom of Libya was a
constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these prin ...
and
hereditary monarchy A hereditary monarchy is a form of government and succession of power in which the throne passes from one member of a ruling family to another member of the same family. A series of rulers from the same family would constitute a dynasty. It is h ...
with legislative power being exercised by the monarch in conjunction with parliament.


King

The King was defined by the constitution as the supreme head of state. Before he is able to assume constitutional powers the King would need to take an oath before a joint session of the Senate and the House of Representatives. All laws passed by parliament needed to be sanctioned and promulgated by the king. It was also the king's responsibility to open and close the sessions of Parliament, it is also his responsibility to dissolve the House of Representatives in line with the constitution. The king was head of the kingdom's
armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
.


Council of ministers

The King was responsible for appointing and removing
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
s. The king also appointed and dismissed ministers based on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Council of Ministers were responsible for the direction of the internal and external affairs of the country and the council were accountable to the House of Representatives. Once a prime minister was removed from office this automatically resulted in dismissal of all the other ministers.


Parliament

The Kingdom's parliament consisted of two chambers, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both chambers met and closed at the same time. The Senate was made up of twenty-four members appointed by the King. A seat in the Senate was restricted to Libyan nationals of at least forty years. The King appointed the President of the Senate, with the Senate itself electing two vice presidents which the King would then need to approve. The president and vice president served for a fixed two-year term. At the end of this term, the King was free to reappoint the president or replace them with someone else while the vice presidents faced re-election. The term of office for a senator was eight years. A senator could not serve for consecutive terms but could be reappointed in the future. Half of all the senators were to be replaced every four years. Members of the House of Representatives were elected through
universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political sta ...
following the constitutional change on 25 April 1963. Women had previously not been able to vote. The number of deputies in the house was determined on the basis of one deputy for twenty thousand people. Elections were held every four years unless parliament was dissolved earlier. The deputies were responsible for electing a speaker and two vice-speakers for the house.


Subdivisions


Provinces

Following independence until 1963, the Kingdom was organised into three provinces: Tripolitania province, Cyrenaica province and Fezzan province, which are the three historic regions of Libya. Autonomy in the provinces was exercised through provincial governments and legislatures.


1963 reorganisation

Following a change in the constitution abolishing the federal makeup of the country in 1963 the three provinces were reorganised into ten governorates ('' muhafazah'' in Arabic) which were ruled by an appointed governor. * Bayda, formerly part of Cyrenaica *
Al Khums Al-Khums or Khoms ( ar, الخمس) is a city, port and the de jure capital of the Murqub District on the Mediterranean coast of Libya with an estimated population of around 202,000. The population at the 1984 census was 38,174. Between 1983 and 19 ...
, formerly part of Tripolitania * Awbari, formerly part of Fezzan * Az Zawiyah, formerly part of Tripolitania *
Benghazi Benghazi () , ; it, Bengasi; tr, Bingazi; ber, Bernîk, script=Latn; also: ''Bengasi'', ''Benghasi'', ''Banghāzī'', ''Binghāzī'', ''Bengazi''; grc, Βερενίκη ('' Berenice'') and ''Hesperides''., group=note (''lit. Son of he Ghaz ...
, formerly part of Cyrenaica * Darnah, formerly part of Cyrenaica * Gharian, formerly part of Fezzan and Tripolitania *
Misrata Misrata ( ; also spelled Misurata or Misratah; ar, مصراتة, Miṣrāta ) is a city in the Misrata District in northwestern Libya, situated to the east of Tripoli and west of Benghazi on the Mediterranean coast near Cape Misrata. With ...
, formerly part of Tripolitania * Sabha, formerly part of Fezzan * Tarabulus, formerly part of Tripolitania


Legacy

Since Muammar Gaddafi's four-decade rule ended in 2011, Libya has struggled to establish basic institutions and rule of law. The 1951 Constitution as amended in 1963 has been at the center of political debate over the past years. In fact, the document continues to be widely regarded as an important instrument and a solid base towards the solution of Libya's political crisis. Growing support on the ground in Libya that a Constitutional monarchy based on the pre-revolutionary constitution should be reinstated as a force for stability, unity, and just governance has emerged since 2011. Libyan exiles, as well as prominent political actors and local groups, have publicly backed the reinstatement of the Senussi Monarchy under the leadership of Prince Mohammed el-Senussi as an attractive political option in Libya. The Movement for the Return of Constitutional Legitimacy and its affiliated groups in Libya advocate for the reinstatement of the 1951 Constitution and the return of the Senussi monarchy under Mohammed El Senussi's leadership. Interviewed by Al-Hayat in April 2014, then-Libyan Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamed Abdelaziz stated that the return of the Constitutional Monarchy within the institutional limits set up by the 1951 Constitution before the 1963 amendments could serve as a unifying symbol for the nation and a "political umbrella" that would guarantee the legitimacy of Libya's institutions in the face of calls for a federal solution and sectarian conflict. In July 2015, support to restore the implementation of the 1951 Constitution and to encourage the return of the Monarchy was publicly expressed by several members of the Constitution Drafting Assembly (CDA), the committee tasked with writing a new constitution, through a petition circulated through social media as well as through a formal letter issued by Ali Hussain Bubaker, then-mayor of Baida, an important city in the east of Libya. In August 2015 a Cyrenaican federalist party, the National Federal Bloc, asked the Parliament to endorse the 1951 Constitution as a legitimate Constitution for the whole country. The party held a meeting in Bayda attended by Cyrenaican authorities as well as by members of the Tobruk-based House of Representatives under the slogan "The return to the unamended Constitution of the founding fathers of 1951 to ensure the unity of the Libyan nation". A conclusive statement authored by the organizers reiterated the necessity to regard the 1951 Constitution as the sole means to achieve political reunification in Libya. Notably, on 4 June 2015 Daniel Kawczynski, a member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee in the British Parliament, published a piece advocating for the return of the 1951 Constitution as amended in 1963 in line with the growing grassroots support registered in the major cities across Libya. In general, growing interest in the viability and relevance of that solution both on the ground and internationally was recorded in February 2016 by Declan Walsh, a New York Times reporter who spent considerable time in Libya. The increasing volume of social media pages and activities on the subject has mirrored that trend. Prince Mohammed el-Senussi has acknowledged the growing enthusiasm towards the reinstatement of the 1951 Constitution and the Constitutional Monarchy. He has consistently stressed that he would be honored to return and serve his country if the Libyan people demanded it.


See also

* Federation of Arab Republics *
List of heads of government of Libya This article lists the heads of government of Libya since the country's independence in 1951. Libya is in a tumultuous state since the start of the Arab Spring-related Libyan Crisis in 2011; the crisis resulted in the collapse of the Liby ...


Notes


References


External links


Kingdom of Libya's constitution


at worldstatesmen.org.



{{DEFAULTSORT:Libya, Kingdom of Former kingdoms Kingdom Kingdom States and territories established in 1951 States and territories disestablished in 1969 Articles containing video clips Former Arab states 1951 establishments in Libya 1969 disestablishments in Africa 20th-century disestablishments in Libya