Libya: Evolution and Prospect of a Democratic Change

Abstract

In a speech via satellite link to an audience of US and Libyan scholars and policy analysts gathered at SIPA School of International and Public Affairs of Columbia University in New York Guide of Libyan Revolu tion, Colonel al-Qadd fi, stated There no state with a democracy except Libya on whole planet. He claimed that Libya only real democracy in world and that American political system a failure. In Libya, he said, everything open for discussion and its political system is superior to farci cal and fake parliamentary and representative democracies in West. Far from commenting on ^-Qaddafi's speech or on allegations re ferring to conference's co-sponsorship by Libyan Government through Green Book Centre and al-Fatah University which appeared in inter national press in aftermath, this essay intends to critically review evolu tion of political process towards a possible democratic development in Libyan Gam hiriyyah. Before starting a brief profile of evolution of State and its Institutions in Libya, we would like to provide readers for sake of our work with a defi nition of democracy. In its Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, Joseph Schum peter defines democracy as the institutional arrangement for arriving at political decisions in which individuals acquire power to decide by means of a com petitive struggle for people's vote1 and democracy form of govern ment that meets following criteria: 1. Free and periodic competition between at least two candidates occurs for all effective decision-making positions. The end result a peaceful transition of government. 2. A high degree of political participation in election of leaders exists. The entire adult population allowed to participate in elections; suffrage uni versal.