Government Under Gadhafi

Video Transcript

They had no institutions for 43 years. What does it mean? What does it mean when you [say] this? What does it mean? Well, it means is Libya, it wasn't Libya. We have to understand the meaning of the country, it's 'al-Jamahiriya Libiya.' And al-Jamahiriya Libiya, it means 'the Libyan popular,' it's the people. And journalists, they used to make, all of them, that mistake. Mr. President, he wasn't the... He would call himself, I mean Gadhafi, '[unclear],' it means 'the leader of the revolution.' 'I'm not elected, so you cannot talk about democracy to elect me.' So the democracy is the people. [That's] why we say there were not institutions there. It doesn't mean they didn't have institutions, it's just they were completely different from what we know here; parliament, government, minister, elections, and so forth, and different parties. Now, they had like, the power for the people, and it was vague. And he wasn't the president, so you couldn't vote against him. And, but in the end we know that it was up, down, and the recommendations would come from his inner circle to the populace. [That's] why Libyans now, they are learning how to deal with institutions, because they haven't dealt with those institutions for 43 years.

In this video, a Algerian national discusses Libya's government under Gadhafi.