Editing Politics of Libya (section)

==General National Congress==
{{main|General National Congress}}
The General National Congress (also translated as ''General National Council''<ref name="IPU_GNCouncil" />) was the [[Legislature|legislative authority]] of Libya. It was [[2012 Libyan parliamentary election|elected]] by popular vote on 7 July 2012, and from 8 August replaced the [[National Transitional Council]] that had governed the country since the end of the [[Libyan civil war (2011)|Libyan Civil War]].<ref name="Gnan-8-Aug-Meet">{{Cite news|author=Michel Cousins |title=National Congress to meet on 8 August: NTC |newspaper=Libya Herald |date=24 July 2012 |url=http://www.libyaherald.com/?p=11495 |access-date=26 July 2012 }}</ref><ref name="Ben-Sassi-8-Aug-Tarab-Post">{{Cite news |title=NTC to Transfer Power to Newly-Elected Libyan Assembly August 8 |newspaper=[[Tripoli Post]] |date=2 August 2012 |url=http://www.tripolipost.com/articledetail.asp?c=1&i=8936 |access-date=4 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120807043644/http://www.tripolipost.com/articledetail.asp?c=1&i=8936 |archive-date=7 August 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.boston.com/news/world/middle-east/2012/08/08/libya-transitional-rulers-hand-over-power/uMPkXd9vTSSHg589mU9ykJ/story.html |title=Libya's transitional rulers hand over power |author=Esam Mohamed |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=8 August 2012 |publisher=Boston.com |access-date=8 August 2012}}</ref> The General National Congress was composed of 200 members of which 80 were elected through a [[Party-list proportional representation|party list]] system of [[proportional representation]], and 120 were elected as [[Independent politician|independents]] in [[Cumulative voting|multiple-member districts]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18721576 |title=Libya elections: Do any of the parties have a plan? |date=6 July 2012 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=6 September 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |author=Margaret Coker |title=Libya Election Panel Battles Ghosts |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |date=22 June 2012 |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303444204577462401509471274}}</ref>

Although it claimed a provisional sort of sovereign authority over Libya, the General National Congress was not permitted to take actions like those of a true sovereign and legitimate state; General National Congress did not have Weberian monopoly of force and could not enforce many of its said plans of action. Although, at the time, no other political body had clearly claimed to possess authority to govern Libya.<ref name="Sawani 523–543">{{Cite journal |last=Sawani |first=Youssef |last2=and Pack |first2=Jason |date=2013-09-01 |title=Libyan constitutionality and sovereignty post-Qadhafi: the Islamist, regionalist, and Amazigh challenges |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13629387.2013.838056#d1e282 |journal=The Journal of North African Studies |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=523–543 |doi=10.1080/13629387.2013.838056 |issn=1362-9387}}</ref>

The executive branch was appointed by the GNC and led by the [[List of heads of government of Libya|prime minister]], Fayez-al-Sarraj, while the president of the GNC was the ''de facto'' [[head of state]], though not explicitly described as such in the Declaration.<ref>{{cite news|title=Libya leader Magarief vows to disband illegal militias|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19691510|access-date=6 January 2013|publisher=BBC News|date=23 September 2013|quote=Mr Magarief, the parliamentary speaker who acts as head of state until elections next year.}}</ref> 
 
The main responsibility of the GNC was to form a [[constituent assembly]] which would write Libya's permanent constitution, for approval by a [[referendum]]. The GNC was unable to choose how this assembly would be elected until they brought the amendment to the Temporary Constitutional Declaration, a document serving as a temporary constitution during the transitional period post-Gadhafi. Accordingly, the GNC decided the method of direct elections to be more efficient in creating this assembly, as they believed it would also please federalist rivals like the House of Representatives, and create progress in the political process.<ref name="Sawani 523–543"/>

On 30 March 2014, the General National Congress voted to replace itself with a new House of Representatives. The new legislature would allocate 30 seats for women, would have 200 seats overall (with individuals able to run as members of political parties) and allow Libyans of foreign nationalities to run for office.<ref name=lh30march>{{cite news|url=http://www.libyaherald.com/2014/03/30/congress-votes-to-replace-itself-with-new-house-of-representatives/|title=Congress votes to replace itself with new House of Representatives|agency=Libya Herald|date=30 March 2014|access-date=1 April 2014}}</ref> While elections were held and lawmakers took office, the former General National Congress rejected the results and [[General National Congress|reconvened in opposition]] to the new parliament, which now meets in the [[Cyrenaica|eastern Libyan]] city of [[Tobruk]].<ref name="chaos"/>

In early December 2015 both parliaments, the GNC and the House of Representatives, agreed a declaration of principles calling for the formation of a joint ten-person committee to name an interim prime minister and two deputies, leading to new elections within two years.<ref name=reuters-20151206>{{cite news |url=https://news.yahoo.com/libyas-parliament-general-national-congress-sign-declaration-principles-022212299.html |title=Rival Libyan lawmakers sign proposal for peace deal |publisher=Yahoo |agency=Reuters|date=6 December 2015 |access-date=7 December 2015}}</ref>