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By Tahir Zaroog.
Misrata, 2 August:
Misrata councillors elected Dr Salim Beit Almal as chairman of Misrata local council late Wednesday night. However, the . . .[restrict]choice immediately sparked protests from revolutionary brigade members attending the election. Beit Almal is seen as a key member of the Muslim Brotherhood in the city.
When it was announced that he had been elected to the job, a group of thuwar immediately objected saying they would not accept someone from the Brotherhood in charge of Misrata. They demanded fresh elections.
Their calls cut little ice with Dr Mohamed Berween, running the contest. He rejected them out of hand, saying that the result had been a democratic decision and must be respected. He told the protestors they could demonstrate on the streets outside but not in the hall where the election had occurred.
Once the protests were over, the councillors then elected Atiya Al-Dreini as deputy chairman.
Beit Almal is an academic who teaches at Misrata’s College of Industrial Technology, the venue for the evening’s elections.
The elections followed the resignation last week of Yusuf Ben Yusuf from the chairmanship and his deputy Mohamed Al-Jamel. They were accused of failing to manage Misrata’s affairs properly. However, in reality their problems was that the council had no funds from central government to rebuild the city and deal with its problems.
That has not changed. [/restrict]
