Resolution No. (3) of 2010 on formulating decisions of the Basic People’s Congress in their annual session of 2009

General People’s Congress Resolution No. (3) of 1378 FDP

on formulating the decisions of the Basic People’s Congresses

in their annual meeting of 1377 FDP

The General People’s Congress,

Upon review of:

• The Declaration on the Establishment of the Authority of the People;
• The Great Green Charter of Human Rights in the Jamahiriyan Era;
• Law No. (20) of 1991 AD on the promotion of freedom;
• Law No. (1) of 1375 FDP on the rules of procedure of the People’s Congresses and the People’s Committees, and the implementing regulations thereof;
• The meeting of the General People’s Committee from 26-27 January 1378 FDP to formulate the decrees of the Basic People’s Congresses in its annual meeting of 1377 FDP, and discuss the formulation proposal prepared by the non-Basic People’s Congresses in implementation of Article (9) of the aforementioned Law No. (1) of 1375 FDP;

formulated the following:

Article (1)

Oversight and Reporting

The Basic People’s Congresses reviewed the reports submitted under this item, namely:

1. Oversight on the executive procedures adopted by the General People’s Committee and the units affiliated thereto to implement the speeches and statements of the Leader of the Great 1 September Revolution and the decrees of the Basic People’s Congresses
2. Report of the National Planning Council
3. Report of the General People’s Committee for the People’s Oversight and Inspection Authority
4. Report of the General People’s Committee for the People’s Financial Audit Authority
5. Report of the Central Bank of Libya

and resolved the following with regard thereto:

1. 1. The Basic People’s Congresses followed the executive procedures adopted by the General People’s Committee and the units affiliated thereto to implement the speeches and statements of the Leader of the Great 1 September Revolution and the decrees of the Basic People’s Congresses, and underscored the following:
1. The speeches, statements, and directives of the Leader of the Revolution shall be considered a course of action for the General People’s Committee and the bodies affiliated thereto, which shall put them into implementation, in particular the items mentioned in his speech in the city of Sabha.
2. In the future, the General People’s Committee report shall contain the executive procedures for the speeches of the Leader of the Revolution, the decrees of the Basic People’s Congresses, and accountability responses in one detailed, clear, and precise report.
3. Decrees of the Basic People’s Congresses that have not been implemented shall be implemented though the preparation of scientific and practical plans and clear and specific mechanisms, remedying all shortcomings.
4. All Libyans must benefit from the society’s revolution without exception, and disbursals from the investment portfolio shall continue.
5. Practical programs shall be established to provide work training and qualification to youth, graduates, and researchers, provide them with loans and create work opportunities for them, with a focus on training centres, establishing higher institutes for a full range of occupations, and encouraging graduates thereof to enter into areas of investment in Libya and abroad.
6. There shall be no increase in the prices of commodities, services, and fuel, and no additional burdens placed on citizens without consulting the Basic People’s Congresses.
7. Free health services shall continue as shall the improvement of the level of such services, with a focus on supporting hospitals and health centres and equipping them with the necessary capabilities and equipment, qualifying medical and ancillary medical personnel, and acquiring medical personnel to make up for the shortage in certain specialisations.
8. Free education shall continue as shall the retention of compulsory basic education, the general education policy shall be reviewed, especially as relates to curricula and performance rates, based on the needs of society and the need to align graduates and the needs of the labour market.
9. Review the regulations on student registration at Libyan universities to ensure that students are able to study without being restricted by their place of residence and expand the establishment of colleges and higher and associate vocational centres.
10. Provide goods and subsidies, increase the allocation thereof to each person, and distribute them through consumer associations.
11. Work to protect local production, grant it competitive opportunities against commodities and goods imported from abroad, and regulate import and export policy.
12. Resume, improve, and maintain the operation of inactive private sector factories, address the reasons for their inactivity to increase their productive capacity, support strategic industries as an alternative to oil, prepare studies on local raw materials to build industries on, work to establish industrial and commercial integration with neighbouring countries to meet the shortfall in goods, and maintain society’s ownership of strategic factories and companies.
13. Support small- and medium-sized enterprises and encourage the private sector to increase its contribution to economic activity.
14. Promote the role of the Libyan Investment Authority as a source of income.
15. Focus on infrastructure projects and building residential compounds in remote regions, giving them priority in implementation to encourage reverse migration and alleviate the burden on cities.
16. Work to provide citizens with suitable housing and expedite the construction of residential units, taking into consideration Libyan customs and traditions in the design of houses.
17. Expand the issuance of housing loans and increase the value thereof, cancel interest thereon, give priority to those residing in remote areas, and review the prices of housing units sold by the Savings and Real Estate Investment Bank.
18. Expedite the construction of premises of the people’s congresses and complete the remaining portion thereof.
19. Give priority to renewable energy projects by deeming them independent strategic projects and focus on expertise and qualifying national cadres in this area.
20. Promote environmental protection programs, and work to establish factories to sort and recycle waste to benefit therefrom, and upgrade old purification plants.
21. Focus on marine resources, establish fishing ports, provide fishing supplies, and encourage and support fish farming.
22. Promote the role of the local people’s security, continue to build and maintain their centres, provide them with material and human capabilities, and work toward the management thereof by a unit so it can perform its role to the fullest extent.
23. Provide public transportation to limit congestion on public roads.
24. Support the Railroads Project Execution and Management Board to enable the implementation of projects assigned thereto and require it to involve the non-governmental sector with foreign companies implementing the project to contribute to the creation of new work opportunities.
25. Work to establish maintain, complete, and equip cultural compounds, centres, and offices, provide them with equipment and capabilities, and link them with the information network.
26. Develop the tourism sector as a source of income, focus on tourism facilities and provide the necessary capabilities, circulate tourism programs among tourism-friendly congresses, and preserve museums and tourist areas.
27. Take an interest in oil explorations and allocate the necessary financial amounts to make their programs succeed, qualify national elements locally and abroad, expedite the completion of gas and refinery projects, and address the shortage of certain petroleum products.
28. Expedite the completion of the stages of the Great Man-Made River Project, continue training and qualifying national elements, and link the project’s water networks with agricultural regions and cities suffering from water shortages.

1. 2. The Basic People’s Congresses reviewed the report of the National Planning Council, and underscored the following:
1. The speeches, statements, and directives of the Leader of the Revolution shall be considered a course of action for the National Planning Council.
2. The Council must adhere to the mechanisms that must be followed when studying the matters submitted thereto by returning to its rules.
3. Focus on infrastructure and establish plans and studies that contribute to the development of society and encourage investment leading to the creation of oil alternatives.
4. Establish a strategy to utilise solar power as a source of renewable energy.
5. Prepare policies to raise the standard of living, promote the role of women, qualify them, and give them incentives to participate in economic activity.
6. Support the National Planning Board to allow it to perform its duties as fully as possible, promote the role of planning boards in the districts to reflect their needs, activities, and resources, and expedite the completion of their headquarters.

1. 3. The Basic People’s Congresses reviewed the report of the General People’s Council for the People’s Oversight and Inspection Authority, and underscored the following:
1. The need to work under the directives of the Leader of the Revolution as relates to the people’s oversight of the sectors.
2. The contents of the report shall be deemed points of accountability for the General People’s Congress and the bodies affiliated thereto.
3. The recommendations contained in the report must be adopted.
4. Adopt preventative measures to limit violations and overreach, hold officials and negligent individuals accountable, and refer violators to the competent courts.
5. Implement public body oversight mechanisms and study errors made in order to avoid them in the future.
6. Support the Authority with material and human resources to enable it to achieve constructive people’s oversight.

1. 4. The Basic People’s Congresses reviewed the report of the General People’s Council for the Financial Audit Authority, and underscored the following:
1. The contents of the report shall be deemed points of accountability for the General People’s Congress and the bodies affiliated thereto.
2. The need to adopt the recommendations contained in the report, take into consideration the observations from examination and audit activities, and adopt practical measures with regard thereto.
3. Promote and support the role of the Financial Audit Authority and limit the commission of violations and overreach to preserve public funds.
4. The need to prepare the State’s balance sheet and adopt the necessary measures to close the accounts of public bodies in Libya and abroad.
5. Secure oversight of the sectors and companies and adopt measures to preserve public funds.

1. 5. The Basic People’s Congresses reviewed the report of the Central Bank of Libya, and underscored the following:
1. The recommendations contained in the report shall be adopted, and the Bank shall be held responsible for any decline or shortcomings in the performance of banks.
2. Focus on monetary and banking policies and support the value of the Libyan dinar in financial transactions against other currencies.
3. Work to reduce interest rates on social advances and housing loans, expand agricultural and production loans and interest-free transitional loans, and establish mechanisms securing banks’ investment of their funds.
4. Establish administrative reform programs, improve services, connect banks to the world wide web, and align fiscal and monetary policies to ensure utilisation of economic capabilities and limit dependence on oil.
5. Open branches of banks and banking agencies in all districts, improve the level of service at banks with the introduction of service technology and qualifying workers therein, monitor private banks, and tighten oversight of the banks affiliated to the Central Bank of Libya.
6. Expand the ownership base of commercial banks and continue to offer shares for subscription.
7. Work to direct loans and facilities for production activities with economic yield to ensure finding resources that are alternatives to oil.

Article (2)

Public Issues

The Basic People’s Congresses discussed the reports submitted in the public issues item, as follows:

1. Report outlining the procedures taken on those referred to the Labour and Training Authority, surplus staffing, and the replacement of expatriate workers with national personnel
2. Report on the national policy on pharmaceuticals
3. Report outlining the procedures taken with regard to food security and the subsidy policy
4. Report on the policies and procedures adopted on self-sufficiency

and resolved the following with regard thereto:

1. The Basic People’s Congresses discussed the report outlining the procedures taken on those referred to the Labour and Training Authority, surplus staffing, and the replacement of expatriate workers with national personnel and underscored the following:

1. Continued disbursal of the salaries of those not listed in the staffing and remedying their status, coordinating with the Labour and Training Authority and the related bodies to find suitable work opportunities for them, and having them replace expatriate workers.
2. Give due consideration to workers who wish to retire early and to transitioning those who wish to production, facilitating the necessary procedures for such.
3. Emphasize the necessity of establishing scientific standards for preparing staffing in harmony with the concept of people’s management.
4. Form committees of specialists and experts to establish strategies and plans to implement the contents of the report in accordance with a scientific study.
5. Work to increase production loans and exemptions from taxes and customs duties.

2. The Basic People’s Congresses discussed the report on the national policy on pharmaceuticals, and underscored the following:

1. The need to adopt a national policy on the manufacture of pharmaceuticals and controlling prices, tightening oversight, and avoiding monopolies thereof.
2. Promote the Medical Procurement Agency and support it materially and in terms of human resources.
3. Emphasise free treatment, provide all types of medications in clinics, hospitals, and medical centres, especially in remote regions, and tighten oversight to prevent tampering therewith.
4. The necessity of working to implement the laws and and legislation regulating the import, storage, and distribution of medications.

3. The Basic People’s Congresses discussed the report outlining the procedures adopted on food security and the subsidy policy, and underscored the following:

1. Reorganise agricultural associations, provide them with supplies and support, and give farmers incentives to increase production by granting them interest-free loans, lowering electricity fees, and buying their crops at incentive prices.
2. Restart operation of suspended factories and support them with the necessary capabilities, focusing on food manufacturing based on local production and the protection thereof, open channels for distribution and marketing, and establish price controls.
3. Maintain subsidies for essential goods and provide them through approved distribution channels, promoting the role of consumer associations.
4. Work to expand agricultural production through the utilisation of water from the Great Man-Made River.
5. Focus on strategic projects to produce grain and feed to achieve self-sufficiency.
6. The necessity of preserving agricultural lands and not allowing them to be used for construction.
7. Work towards optimal use of marine resources and encourage researchers to work in this area by granting them the necessary loans and facilitating the procedures for obtaining such loans.
8. Encourage the private sector to establish companies to transport agricultural production from agricultural regions to factories and housing complexes.
9. Specify the competencies of the Price Stability Fund and support it with the necessary capabilities to perform its role in society.
10. Work to submit a draft law on consumer protection.
11. Task the General People’s Committee with establishing food security programs.
12. Qualify and train personnel in agricultural information and extension services.

4. The Basic People’s Congresses discussed the report on the policies and procedures adopted on self-sufficiency, and underscored the following:

1. Expand the establishment of factories based on local production, support them with the necessary capabilities, and facilitate the procedures of local companies and cooperatives in obtaining long-term loans to import their manufacturing requirements.
2. Promote the role of consumer associations and focus on and promote the role of agricultural associations, supporting them with the necessary capabilities and working to review the fees and taxes imposed on agricultural supplies and equipment to encourage increased production.
3. Confirm stability of legislation that protects private economic activities, encourages small industries, and provides a suitable investment environment.
4. Establish a time-specific strategy to draft proposals to achieve self-sufficiency gradually and exempt the relevant projects from taxes and fees.
5. Task universities and research centres with preparing technical and economic studies to find alternative resources to oil.
6. Focus on forests and vegetation to combat desertification and drought.
7. Encourage the cultivation of strategic crops such as wheat and stress the utilisation of global expertise, not expanding foreign investment, and supporting local investment.
8. Focus on the use of modern technologies to treat industrial waste and establish factories based thereon.
9. Utilise the Libyan coast to establish marine industries such as fish packing and sponge hunting.
10. Develop medicines and expand the planting of olive and date trees.
11. Provide goods inventory to meet citizens’ needs.
12. Prioritize national elements for work on projects being implemented under a contract with a foreign partner.

Article (3)

Laws

The Basic People’s Congresses discussed the explanatory reports on authorising the General People’s Congress to issue the draft laws submitted thereto, and undertook the following with regard thereto:

1. The following Laws shall be issued in accordance with the observations of the Basic People’s Congresses and enter into force on the date of their publication in the Legal Register.

1. A law on amending Article (1.1) of Law No. (1) of 1375 FDP on the rules of procedure of the People’s Congresses and the People’s Committees
2. A law on illegal migration
3. A law on citizenship
4. A law on conciliation and arbitration
5. A law on notaries
6. A law on endowments
7. A law on developing and improving the Ras Jadir agricultural region and certain other areas
8. A law on adding an amendment to Law No. (40) of 1974 AD on service in the Armed People
9. A law on assessing exemptions of Armed People revenue from taxes and customs duties
10. A law on national security
11. A law on commercial activity
12. A law on labour relations
13. A law on income taxes
14. A law on customs
15. A law on communications
16. A law on financial leasing
17. A law on education
18. A law on health insurance
19. A law on encouraging investment
20. A law on establishing the Libyan Investment Authority
21. A law on the financial market
22. A law on real estate registration

2. Laws that were not recited:

1. A law on political and consular work
2. A law on professional associations, syndicates and federations
3. A law on oil and gas
4. A law on asylum
5. A law on military retirement

Article (4)

Budgets

1. The Basic People’s Congresses discussed the follow-up report on the implementation of the general budget for fiscal year 1377 FDP (2009 AD), and resolved the following:

1. Emphasize the inclusion of the directives of the Leader of the Revolution during his attendance of the third session of the meeting of the National Planning Council held on 15-16 December 2009 AD on the draft budget.
2. Realise the budgets on time with no delay in closing them and collect revenues accurately.
3. In the future, the report must contain full clarification of the budget goals, the extent to which the numbers contained therein were verified, and disbursements to the sectors and districts.
4. The portion completed must not be proportionate to what was disbursed, and projects in the districts must be distributed fairly.
5. Take into consideration the observations of the National Planning Council and the General People’s Committee of the Financial Audit Authority.
6. Preserve public funds by rationalising spending and actual use of approved resources and not being lenient with violators.
7. Amounts carried forward shall not be disbursed other than for the purposes for which they were allocated.
8. Assign the oversight agencies to monitor the proper use of budget allocations for their purposes.
9. Work to cover the shortfall in returns from surplus revenue of the Tax Authority and the Customs Authority and profits of the Central Bank of Libya.

2. The Basic People’s Congresses discussed the report and draft law on the general budget for fiscal year 1378 FDP (2010 AD), and resolved to issue a law on approving the general budget for fiscal year 1378 FDP (2010 AD) and the expenditure of twenty-eight billion, one hundred sixty [sic] million, three hundred [sic] two thousand, eighty Libyan dinars (LYD 28,162,362,080) during fiscal year 1378 FDP (2010 AD) on Sections (1), (2), (4), and (5) of the general budget for 2010 AD and the expenditure of eighty-four million, forty-three million, three hundred fifty-four thousand, four hundred Libyan dinars (LYD 84,043,354,400) on Section (3) of the general budget for 2010, 2011, and 2012 AD, underscoring the following:

1. Work to disburse budget allocations from the beginning of the fiscal year.
2. Comply with the recommendations in the report of the People’s Oversight Authority, the Financial Audit Authority, and the National Planning Board.
3. Prioritize disbursement to inactive projects in the education, health, youth, water, and sanitation sectors, and pay previous debts to national companies and cooperatives to complete stalled projects.
4. Prioritize disbursement of budget items for basic goods and medicines.
5. Allocate amounts in the budget to training and qualification programs.
6. The budget must be comprehensive, and the projects and implementation locations thereof must be set out therein.
7. Focus on the wages and salaries item in the budget so that the salaries are in line with basic needs.
8. Realise the budget without reducing it and making disbursals therefrom in accordance with the approved allocations, closing it on time.
9. Continue disbursement of real estate and production loans, cancel the interest thereon, and increase the value thereof.
10. Confirm disbursal of salaries of those transferred from staffing in the general budget.
11. Subsidise basic goods without exception.
12. The General People’s Committee shall not be authorised to make disbursals except in accordance with the decrees of the Basic People’s Congresses formulated in the General People’s Congress.
13. Emphasize oversight and monitoring by the competent bodies upon implementation of the budget, and the need to distribute wealth among all Libyans equally.

Article (5)

Foreign Policy

The Basic People’s Congresses reviewed the treaties, agreements, and protocols entered into by the Great Jamahiriya and other countries and in the area of regional and international organisations, and resolved to issue a law on ratifying them, in accordance with the list attached to the law.

The General People’s Congress issued a statement on the foreign policy of the Great Jamahiriya attached to this Decree.

Article (6)

The General People’s Congress reviewed the accountability points received from the Basic People’s Congresses and formulated the following decree:

The General People’s Congress shall be tasked with referring the accountability received from the Basic People’s Congresses to the General People’s Committee, the bodies affiliated thereto, and other related bodies to provide a written response thereto and submit such to the Basic People’s Congresses in its next session.

The General People’s Congress also resolved to task its Secretariat with referring the recommendations and observations received from the Basic People’s Congresses to the General People’s Committee and related bodies to adopt the necessary procedures with regard thereto.

General People’s Congress – Libya

Issued in: Sirte

On: 13 Safar 1378 FDP

Corresponding to: 28 January 2010 AD