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Tripoli, 29 April:
The much-rumoured sacking of the government by the NTC or even a cabinet reshuffle failed to materialize on Sunday, . . .[restrict]as most observers had expected.
The rumours had been fanned by a small minority of members of the NTC, led by Fathi Baji, who at one point during the week suggested that the decision to sack the government had already been taken by the council.
NTC Chairman Mustafa Abdul Jalil, quashed them on Sunday following an NTC meeting in Tripoli, saying that the government would remain in office until the elections on 19 June for the National congress. The congress, which is to draw up a new constitution, will replace the NTC and have the authority to appoint a new cabinet.
“It would be crazy to sack the government now, just seven weeks away from an election,” one member of the NTC told Libya Herald this afternoon. “We will look like fools.”
Jalil said this evening that council wanted to heal any rift with the government. According to the Libyan News Agency WAL, he called all Libyans to be described as one with the NTC and the government.
It is known that Prime Minister Abdurrahim Al-Kib and his government are exasperated at what they see as NTC interference in the governing of Libya and its constant recriminations. One minister told Libya Herald this week he had been the point of resigning himself and that he could not wait for the elections to come so that he could get back to his real job.
Jalil said that the NTC and the government were in the same boat, but that the government still had to ensure security in Libya and ensure the success of the National Congress elections in June.
It remains to be seen whether those in the NTC who want to sack the government while give up their quest.
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