Libya: Royalists Want UN to Consider Constitutional Monarchy as a Solution

A group of Libyans nostalgic of the country’s past and opposed to Gaddafi loyalists are pushing for the restoration of the 1969 constitution that existed before Muammar Gaddafi’s military coup which put an end to Libya’s monarchy.

A conference to rally support to the proposal and draw the attention of the UN Special Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) is due to take place next week in Gharyan, Northwest of the country.

The organizers believe all political solutions have failed and that the UN should give a chance to a constitutional monarchy, as this is according to them, the only workable solution.

The country’s former strongman Muammar Gaddafi led a coup against King Idris I of Libya and forced Crown Prince Hasan ar Rida to abdicate.

The UNSMIL is currently busy putting Libyans together for a consensus on a new constitution but royalists believe that the North African country already has one.

“We have a constitution. We don’t need another,” said Ashraf Boudaoura, chairman of the organizing committee, in reference to the 1951 constitution amended in 1963.

Royalists want Prince Sidi Mohammed El-Senussi, son of the Hasan ar Rida to return to Libya and assume responsibilities.
Numerous meetings calling for the return of the monarchy took place with supportive groups in Tripoli, Tobruk, Beida and elsewhere, Boudaoura told Libya Herald.

Former Libyan foreign minister, Mohammed Abdelaziz, in 2014, at 25th Arab League Summit in Kuwait, suggested the restoration of the constitutional monarchy noting that he was in touch with Prince Sidi Mohammed El-Senussi.

The oil-rich country has slid into chaos since 2011 following the revolution that overthrew Gaddafi. Two rival governments; UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) based in Tripoli and United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt-backed government in Beida have been wrestling for the control of the lawless country.