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By Libya Herald staff.
Tripoli, 12 June 2014:
In a live television interview yesterday on Libya Al-Ahrar TV,the man appointed by the General . . .[restrict]National Congress on Tuesday to be Attorney-General, Sadiq Al-Sour turned down his appointment expressing concerns about whether due legal process had been followed. Sour is currently the head of the prosecution’s investigations department.
In what is perhaps another historic signpost of the blossoming of democracy in Libya, Sour professed in the interview that he did not want “his appointment to be the cause of a split between the judiciary and the legislative powers in Libya.”
He was referring to the fact that there was a lack of quorum in session of Congress in which he was chosen. Only 94 of 182 members were present for the session.
His appointment was announced shortly after members present voted to dismiss current Attorney General Abdulqader Radwan. Neither the vote to sack Radwan nor the vote to appoint Sour had the required 101 members required to be present for a legitimate vote.
The First Deputy President of Congress, Ezzeddin Al-Awami, publicly challenged the legality of yesterday’s sitting on the basis that it lacked a legal quorum.
“Firstly, according to the General National Congress’s own rules, to hold a session there must be 101 GNC members present at the meeting hall at 9:30 am,” Awami told the Libya Herald. “In the case that members have not arrived on time, Congress can wait for a maximum of one hour only. Past that, the session cannot be held.”
As such, Tuesday’s session was illegal, he said. Any decisions made in such a session could be legally challenged.
Awami thinks it will happen. He told this newspaper that the High Judicial Council had met with Sour to discuss the GNC. “Obviously the Judiciary High Council is upset with the GNC decision,” he declared. [/restrict]
