Libyan leader Moammar Gadaffi’s son Saif al-Islam Gadaffi late on Monday outlined a planned new constitution for Libya, while stressing his father was among the ”red lines” that could not be changed.
”Our next challenge is to set up a series of laws, which we can call constitution or social contract or something else. The important thing is to have a contract that will organise the lives of Libyans,” Gadaffi said in a speech in Benghazi, 1 000km east of Tripoli.
”First, there are red lines that we must reach agreement on,” he said, quoting in order: ”Islam and application of sharia law, (…) security and stability in Libya, unity of the national territory, and Moammar Gadaffi.”
The laws should guarantee the independence of the Libyan central bank, the high court, the media and civil society, Gadaffi told a crowd of more than 40 000 assembled in a big square in Libya’s second city.
He called for a ”national dialogue embracing all the Libyan people to reach the ideal formula as soon as possible” to draw up a constitution, while expressing backing for the ”direct democracy” preached by his father.
Libya will on September 1 celebrate the 37th anniversary of the overthrow of the Senussi monarchy by a group of ”free officers” headed by Gadaffi Snr. He abolished the 1951 constitution that made Libya a constitutional monarchy.
A short temporary constitution was replaced in 1977 by a four-article ”declaration on setting up the power of the people”.
Moammar Gadaffi, who is in theory only a ”guide” giving his advice, preaches ”people’s power” through ”direct democracy” carried out by ”people’s committees”. His son stressed the need to widen the political dialogue beyond those committees. Political debate has been banned in Libya outside that framework.
He also called for strengthening the power of the prime minister so that he could choose his ministers — something the people’s committees have done up to now.
On the economic front, Gadaffi Jnr welcomed the results of his reforms launched last year, saying that several development projects had been started in Libya at a cost of €60-billion.
In his televised speech he showed more moderation than in another speech a year ago in which he broke a taboo by denying that a ”people’s power” existed in Libya as laid down in his father’s ”Green Book” of political thought.
In that speech he lashed out at the ”mafia” of bureaucrats opposed to political or economic reforms. — Sapa-AFP