Muammar Gaddafi encouraged a policy.
Muammar Gaddafi . Within the military he founded a revolutionary cell which , in a 1969 coup , deposed the Western-backed Senussi monarchy of Idris . In 1973 , he initiated a `` Popular Revolution '' with the formation of General People 's Committees , purported to be a system of direct democracy , but retained personal control over major decisions . From 1999 , Gaddafi rejected Arab socialism and encouraged economic privatisation , rapprochement with Western nations , and Pan-Africanism ; he was Chairperson of the African Union from 2009 -- 10 .