AL JAZEERA ENGLISH: Libyan leader says he is just a symbol and power is in the hands of the people during televised address to supporters.Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has said that he is not a president and so cannot resign his position, and that power is in the hands of the people, during a televised public rally in the capital, Tripoli.
"Muammar Gaddafi is not a president to resign, he does not even have a parliament to dissolve," Gaddafi said on Wednesday, his third public appearance since the uprising, surrounded by dozens of supporters in a large ballroom for a ceremony to mark 34 years of "people power".
"Attacks on me are seen by Libyan people as attacks on their symbol and dignity.
"The foreigners want Gaddafi to step down, to step down from what? Gaddafi is just a symbol for the Libyan people... This is how the Libyan people understood it."
He said that the world did not understand the Libyan system that puts power in the hands of the people.
"The people are free to chose the authority they see fit," he said.
"We put our fingers in the eyes of those who doubt that Libya is ruled by anyone other than its people," he said, referring to his system of "direct democracy" which he outlined in his Green Book political manifesto, launched in 1977.
"I have always said that the Libyan people are free [in managing their own business]."
He did however announce that he was willing to discuss constitutional and legal change without armed conflict or chaos. >>> Al Jazeera and agencies | Wednesday, March 02, 2011
