Explanatory Post 1: Libya's Qaddafi

Libya's Qaddafi

The Politics of Contradiction

Politics:

In the Post 1969 Coup in Libya, the Libyan Arab Socialists Union (LASU; 1970) quickly grew in popularity and power as it promoted democracy and the values of “freedom, socialism, and unity”. The LASU worked to create accountability and frequently questioned Qaddafi over his decisions and intentions which he strongly disliked. Qaddafi realised that he was losing his grip on power but knew he couldn't directly attack the LASU. Instead, he exacerbated existing divisions, encouraged workers to take over factories and create peoples committees, and nationalised firms with ten or more employees as well as private property. By creating a totally divided society, Qaddafi generated chaos out of which he would create order. In the Zwara (renamed Five Points City) speech he made it clear that only those who adopted the new ideology would be safe from harassment and injury and enjoy benefits of the revolution. He then formed the General People’s Congress (GPC) and peoples committees. Qaddafi, Intent on shaking traditional Libyan society; eliminating opposition and instituting a system to guarantee survival of the regime and his position, realised he couldn't accomplish his goals with the GPC system. In 1977 he made Libya a ‘Jamahiriya’ (state of the masses).

The Peoples Committees (PCs) which were formed to oversee the Jamahiriya were comprised mainly of people from Qaddafi’s own tribe. Revolutionary Committees (RCs) which were made up of loyal respondents to Qaddafi’s speech oversaw the PCs. As each Revolutionary Member represented Qaddafi, and were to emulate him in every way. While abroad, members of the RC manned embassies and hounded and persecuted Libyans who had fled Libya. However, perhaps the most important role they had was to insulate Qaddafi from officious bureaucracy and other members of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), and to overcome coups by dissident members of RCC and Libyan exiles. Qaddafi clearly had an incentive to keep these people happy which explains why they received  perks such as material benefits, travel abroad in best hotels at government expense, and large long-term interest free loans from government banks. However, Qaddafi also knew that with these positions there was a risk of members gaining their own loyal followings. For this reason he periodically purged the RC members.

Qaddafi employed sudden periodic changes in political structures as a primary technique for diffusing domestic pressures on the regime. For example, in September 1993, he was no longer satisfied with the political system and envisaged 1,500 autonomous communes such as France had had.

The President’s Men:

Qaddafi clearly believed in the old saying ‘Blood is thicker than water’, as he promoted members of his own tribe in the military and gave them sensitive military posts. The failed coup in February 1995 prompted Qaddafi to give his cousins more encompassing powers, while at the same time he overlapped their assignments to insure that they could not topple him. He had learnt the hard way that he could not completely trust his own family after his cousin Hassan Ishkal attempted to overthrow him in the early 1980s. Most of the new recruits were from the Warfla tribe (blood tied to his tribe). Appointments of Warfla tribe members to junior positions in the hierarchy were intended to help solidify alliances, guarantee security and give regime sense of plurality. However it was still clear that Qaddafi and RC were still very much in charge. Qaddafi’s eldest son from his second wife, Sayf al-Islam, was also being groomed for a position of prominence in the regime.

Economics:

The issue of water was a significant one during Qaddafi’s reign. His Great Man-Made River project cost far more than Libya could afford, but Qaddafi had invested too much political capital into the project to stop it. The lack of clean water created many negative consequences such as being unable to bathe regularly (impacting health) and not having enough water to properly clean medical facilities. The lack of water and Qaddafi’s inefficiency in solving the issue meant that for the first time, many began to openly question Qaddafi’s motives.

The period of 1978-88 in Libya was been referred to as the “dark decade” due to the political repression and the extreme economic hardship. Only the RC and Qaddafi had no shortages as goods were imported through special warehouses for them. There were steep declines in agriculture, manufacturing and the service sector , and times when hospitals couldn't operate because of shortages of vital items such as sutures. A lot of capital went to military weapons advancement with projects on biological and chemical weapons, as well as missile developments with China and North Korea. It’s believed that what wasn't spent on these projects, glorification of the regime, foreign adventures and white elephants, was spent on personal use by Qaddafi and his close supporters. Since Qaddafi came to power in 1969, approximately 50 billion of foreign exchange earnings cannot be accounted for.

Qaddafi banned Libyans from importing goods and controlled the market in Libya which led to a thriving black market. Qaddafi became worried that the economic situation would lead to a popular uprising and so in 1992 he permitted Libyan people to open small businesses. However the products they could sell were so shoddy that many preferred to trade on the black market anyway. Libya became the most expensive county in the world to live in and Libyan’s struggled to make ends meet as the currency continued to weaken against US dollar.

Society:

Qaddafi’s policies had a detrimental effect on Libyan society. He had created a society with no civil laws, and the ‘revolutionary right’ become a carte blanche for immoral behavior. The circumstances made Libyans passive and they no longer produced, or really worked. It could take more than a week to find an application processing clerk for simple documentation such as a birth certificate, and any issue requiring government approval or involvement took years to resolve. Military demonstrations were frequent and disruptive. Students attended school for less than 6 months annually and an average school day was less than 4 hours due to these disruptions. El-Kikhia believes that Libyans were also to blame for the way Libyan society evolved. They became dependent on government hand outs and their unwillingness to work hard and dependence on government left them vulnerable to the minutest changes in political and economic milieus. While I agree that they played some part in their societal change, I think that it is important to keep in mind the social pressures and limitations the Qaddafi government placed upon these people, and that under such circumstances most societies would likely react in a similar manner.

State of the Masses:

Under Qaddafi’s rule, Libya became the most restrictive country in the world. Every year new rules on what to wear, eat, say and read emerged. The media was tightly controlled, there was no open political participation, and free speech was non-existent. When all laws were suspended in 1974 – all individual rights vanished. Televised trials in the late 1970s and 80s showed members of the RC acting as judges, jurors and executioners for a number of young men who were refused counsel and hanged after hasty trials. This was successful in  increasing the level of fear and insecurity, hence instability and people learned to expect collective punishment.

Qaddafi wanted to Arabicize society and rid traditions and Arabic languages of “external contamination”. All signs and travel documents were Arabicized and those in the media had to wear traditional clothes. It was also mandated that all new-borns take authentic Arab names. The Gregorian calendar was replaced by a solar calendar beginning with migration of the Prophet Mohammad in 622 and Gregorian month names were replaced. It became difficult to even determine the day or date.

Conclusion:

Qaddafi, like most malevolent dictators, was whimsical at times. It is apparent that he had a firm grip on his control, being able to quickly quash many attempted coups throughout his reign. His tactics of periodically changing the political and social systems were effective in terms of keeping power, but had massive negative effects for the Libyan people. As El-Kikhia says, “No society can withstand the psychological trauma of continuously living on the edge of uncertainty.” It seems clear that his intentions were to uproot traditional Libyan society and in its place create his own society.