The dynamic of Libyan legislative process in the post-Gaddafi era: The case of the NGC and the NTC

Mustafa A. Abulgasem Kashiem

Net Journal of Social Sciences
Published: May 9 2017
Volume 5, Issue 2
Pages 21-34

Abstract

Libya early practice of legislative process goes back to the years of political independence, when the first popular parliament was elected in 16 February 1952 during the era of the constitutional monarchy. Nevertheless, the era of Gaddafi’s regime (1969 to 2011) resulted in a vacuum of legislative process. The resumption of the Libyan legislative process reoccurred since the early days of the 17th February revolution of 2011; therefore, the National Transitional Council “NTC” was established by revolutionary leaders from different parts of Libya on 27th September, 2011. The most important legal document that was issued by the NTC is the Interim Constitutional Declaration “ICD” on 3 August, 2011, a document that draws the roadmap for the Libyan future. The legislative processes of the NTC, and especially the National General Congress “NGC”, reflected the division of labour technique; thus, permanent, non-permanent and common committees were operational. This study assumes that the Libyan legislative process is a policy influencing rather than an executive dominated branch of government. In order to examine the influence of the NTC and the NGC on public policy, this study is divided into the following sections: the Evolution of Libyan legislative process, the Libyan legislative process, the Influence of the NTC and the NGC, the Future of the legislative process in the new Libya, and a conclusion. The findings of this study support, by and large, the underlying hypothesis that described the NTC and the NGC as policy influencing rather than executive dominated legislative bodies.

Keywords: 17th February Revolution, Legislative Process, Internal System, National General Congress, National Transitional Council, House of Representatives, Interim Constitutional Declaration, Government of National Salvation.

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