By Nihal Zaroug.
Tripoli, 6 November:
A source close to the office of Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has said that he has not . . .[restrict]received any resignations to date. It had been reported yesterday that two ministerial nominees from his cabinet had submitted their resignations. The two ministers rumored to have resigned are Foreign Affairs Minster Ali Aujli, and Minister of Martyrs and Missing Sami Al-Saadi.
According to the source, the integrity committee had been tasked to review six ministers referred to it, and that no action would be taken until it concluded its assessments.
However, it has been learned that the integrity commission has yet to receive the ministers’ files. The process of vetting alone could take up to three weeks and delays in receiving files could postpone the commission’s final report.
Aujli appeared in an interview with Al-Hurra TV on 3 November, where he stated that contrary to rumours, he had not resigned. Despite calls for his removal, Aujli noted that Zeidan had selected him and the GNC (General National Congress) had approved his nomination. His appointment shocked many, because of his long-term ties to the Qaddafi regime, although he was one of the first diplomats to back the revolution, resigning as ambassador to Washington less than a week after it started.
Al-Saadi, the founder of Al-Umma Al-Wasat party and former deputy of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), stated on a social network site that he intended to resign. His grievances with the voting method of the GNC, the partisan nature of Congress and the marginalisation of important groups, were among his main reasons for deciding to step down.
Meanewhile there has also been a quasi-resignation from the GNC.
Following the recent storming of the Congress hall at the Rixos hotel over Zeidan’s proposed cabinet, National Forces Alliance chairman Ibrahim Gheryani requested on Saturday that his membership from the legislature be suspended. Gheryani wants an investigation into why repeated intrusions on congress have occurred, and those responsible identified and held accountable.
The request, seen as tactical manoeuvering, has not yet been approved by Congress or its president Mohamed Magarief and is unlikely to be accepted. Suspension of membership of a legislature is usually accepted only when the person concerned is being investigated for some wrongdoing.
Other Congress members have voiced dissatisfaction over the security situation at the Rixos and a motion to move the GNC to Beida was put up for vote. However, only 33 Congressmen voted in favour of relocating; 79 voted against the move. The remainder of congress was absent for the vote.
So far the only formal resignation from the GNC is that of Zeidan himself, who had to resign as Congress representative for Jufra to accept the position of prime minister.
However, eight members have been disqualified by the integrity commission: Abdulhamid Daw Ali Al-Khanjari, the independent member for Batin Al-Jabal in the Jebel Nafusa; Abd Rabbah Yousef Mikael Bu Breg, an independent member for Beida; both independent members for Ghat, Abdulqader Sidi Omar Sidi Eshaikh El-Hash and Mohamed Ibrahim Makhi Abdulqader; Salem Al-Ahmar Al-Hadi Ali, an independent member for Bani Walid; Annifishi Abdussalam Abdul Manee Abdussalam, an independent member for Tarhouna; and two NFA congresswomen, Salma Mohamed Emhemed Ekhail for Zliten, and Mariam Ali Ahmed Farda for Tripoli’s Abu Sleem/Ain Zara district. [/restrict]
