By Michel Cousins.
Tripoli, 3 August:
The NTC’s new local administration law authorised by the NTC last week is not going to be . . .[restrict]enacted at present. According to the governmennt spokesman, Nasser Al-Manaa, Law Number 59/2012 will be presented to the new National Congress for it to decide upon.
The law, prepared by the Ministry of Local Government and passed by the NTC in June, surprised many observers. Known as the “decentralisation law” because it set up a as system of local government, allocating it certain powers and responsibilities, it was seen as intruding into an area not within the remit of the NTC or the present interim government.
Decentralisation is considered part of the wider constitutional debate which is to be decided by the Constitutional Commission (which may or may not be directly elected in the next three months), the National Congress and ultimately the Libya people through a referendum in the next 12 months.
The law was published last week without any major changes and, normally, publication means the law has come into effect.
Speaking at the weekly government press conference yesterday, Manaa said that while the ministry was had worked hard on the law, but that it woud be presented to Congress “later on”.
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