By Ahmed Elumami.
Tripoli, 21 January 2014:
The Justice and Construction Party (J&C) today pulled out top ministers who represented the party in . . .[restrict]the current government, citing its continued poor performance.
Those involved are the Oil and Gas Minister Abdulbari Al-Arusi, Housing and Utilities Minister Ali Al-Sharif, Youth and Sport Minister Abdul Salam Guaila, Economy Minister Mustafa Abofanas, and Electricity Minister, Ali Muhairiq.
Strangely, J&C party members holding deputy ministerial posts are not, however, included in this withdrawal, a member of the executive office of the J&C party, Mohamed Al-Harizi, told the Libya Herald. The purpose of the move, he said, was to target the most senior positions.
The party released a statement blaming groups that have defended the current government for the move. It said these had to take responsibility for the consequences resulting from a failure of government.
“We tried several times to repair and reform the performance of the government, but unfortunately they have continued to work at the same level with no success,” Harizi said.
It was expected that Congress would hold a successful vote of no-confidence against Prime Minister Ali Zeidan, he said, but discussions were still ongoing and some Congress members continued to support the government despite what Harizi described as its failure to establish security in Libya. [/restrict]