What is the Jamahiriya (Freepublic)? Historical context and future

Historically, the word "Jamahiriya" was added to the world vocabulary, to describe a new type of governing for which there was no existing word.

Prior to the French republic, there was no word "republic" in the languages of the world to describe the concept of a "representative" form of governing, without a monarch.

In 1977, the "Jamahiriya" entered the dictionary to describe a new form of people's power without any traditional concept of government.

This people's power rested not upon a group, tribe, sect, class or party, coalition, emperor or other ruling over others, but on the people governing themselves by themselves, in a system in which the people themselves have the power.

This was the result of The Green Book "Solution to the Problem of Democracy: The Authority of the People" which proposed that the people themselves should be the authority, in a direct participatory consensus building democratic system based upon People's Conferences (see Glossary link below for other translations and definition).

Authored by Mu'ammar Qathafi and espousing the Third Universal Theory (see References below) The Green Book proposed this new system of People's Authority and not just "People's Power" as manifested in demonstrations and casting of votes.

Hitherto, having overthrown the monarchy in a bloodless coup in 1969, the country had been renamed to the Libyan Arab Republic. With the dawn of the People's Conferences as the source of legislation and execution (decision-making and taking responsibility for carrying out those decisions) there was now direct democracy.

However, this was not the "direct democracy" as in Switzerland where people vote in referendums on a majority vote of "yes" or "no", as The Green Book points out, this is not the solution to the problem of power. It is the unique and final solution:

THE GREEN BOOK guides the masses to an unprecedented practical system of direct democracy. No two intelligent people can dispute the fact that direct democracy is the ideal, but until now no practical method for its implementation has been devised. The Third Universal Theory , however, now provides us with a practical approach to direct democracy. The problem of democracy in the world will finally be solved. All that is left before the masses now is the struggle to eliminate all prevailing forms of dictatorial governments, be they parliament, sect, tribe, class, one-party system, two-party system or multi-party system, which falsely call themselves democracies. 

True democracy has but one method and one theory. The dissimilarity and diversity of the systems claiming to be democratic do, in fact, provide evidence that they are not so. Authority of the people has but one face which can only be realized through Popular Conferences and People's Committees. There can be no democracy without Popular Conferences and Committees everywhere. 

With the word for "Republic" being "Joumhouriya" in Arabic, the new word coined by the Author of The Green Book and brother leader of the revolution Mu'ammar al-Qathafi was "Jamahiriya" and the country changed its name with the handing of power over to the people with the first General People's Congress consisting of all the Basic People's Conferences across the country and the "Proclamation of the Authority of the People" on 2nd March 1977 changing the name of the Libyan Arab Republic to the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, or "Libyan Jamahiriya" in short.

In the English language we can also coin a new word, if Jamahiriya requires an English-sounding equivalent to make it clearer to English speakers what is implied. We can change "Republic" to "Freepublic". We can then look forward to the Freepublic of Sweden, the Freepublic of America, the Freepublic of California, etc. once the people have formed themselves into self-governing societies based on people's conferences.

For this to come about there is a need for education and a movement with a united vision and this is the task of the revolutionary committees.

References:

• Glossary of Terminology (Definition of terms such as Jamahiriya)
• The Green Book
• What is the Third Universal Theory and what problems does it solve?