Parliamentarism, according to Gaddafi, is a perverse solution to the problem of democracy. A Parliament can not speak on behalf of the people, because democracy means the rule of the people, not of those who act on its behalf. Methods of electing the parliament can not be considered democratic, because the masses become completely disconnected from the Members of Parliament. The MPs monopolize the power of the masses and the right to decide their business for them. Parliament, in fact, represents not the people, but the party that won the elections. In fact, the people are used by the political forces in the struggle for power. The system of elected parliaments is a demagogic system because votes can be bought and manipulated, that is, parliamentary representation is a fraud. In general, the theory of representative government is, Gaddafi argues, an outdated practice that was invented by philosophers and thinkers at the time when the common folk were ordered about like livestock by their rulers.