The Basic People's Congress, or Fundamental Popular Council ( ar, مؤتمر شعبي أساسي, translit=Mu'tamar shaʿbi asāsi), was the smallest unit of government in

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 ...

's Libya. It governed the equivalent of a municipality, and that geographic district was also called a Basic People's Congress.Vandewalle, Dirk J. (1998) ''Libya since independence: oil and state-building'' I B Tauris, London, pp. 95-97, The congress consisted of every man and woman who had attained the age of majority. The actual congress met at three scheduled meetings per year or as called upon by necessity. The first meeting was usually devoted to a detailed agenda for the next two meetings. At the second meeting the Basic People's Congress discussed issues relating to the local business, while at the third meeting seats on committees were filled, representatives elected and policy at the national and international level were discussed. Day-to-day management and oversight was provided by the people's committee appointed by the congress. The next political level up was the district congresses and then above that was the General People's Congress at the top.

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