Libyan Constitutional Union

The LCU's call to rally around the king and benefit from his constitutional legitimacy was not welcomed by other Libyan opposition groups in exile.

[5] The LCU maintained that the complex structure of Libyan society and the impact its recent history had on it made it extremely vulnerable in the event of a political vacuum, no matter how short.

In its obituary to King Idris following his death in Cairo on 25 May 1983 the LCU proposed the formation of a tentative national assembly to serve as a basis for all future democratic institutions in Libya.

The LCU has always voiced their belief that the only way to successfully confront Gaddafi's illegitimate regime is by a united front standing on solid legal ground, i.e. the nation's ratified constitution.

At the start of the February 2011 revolution members of the LCU were amongst the first to be present on international media[7] to support the uprising, explain its motives and aims and to introduce it to the world at large.

[8] The LCU tried to convince the National Transitional Council and other politically active bodies through numerous public statements and open letters to reinstate the national constitution as a necessity of protecting the Libyan people from the inevitable downward spiral the country would be trapped in as a result of the political vacuum.