By Sami Zaptia.

Tripoli, 5 August 2014:

In a late session in Tobruk of the new House of Representatives broadcast live on TV, which started at about 8 pm Monday and ended at around 1 am on Tuesday, Ageela Salah Issa Gwaider from Guba in eastern Libya was elected as the new head of the House of Representatives in a run-off with Abubakr Bahira.

Nine House of Representatives members took part in the first round of voting with the majority of votes going to Abubakr Bahira (54) and Ageela Issa Gwaider(46).

1st round of voting for House of Representatives President
1 Ali Sghayer 23
2 Abubakr Bahira 54
3 Mohamed Rehebi 3
4 Younis Fannous 5
5 Mohamed Al-Abani 5
6 Saed Hashmi 10
7 Ageela Issa Gwaider 46
8 Ibrahim Ameish 1
9 Ali Al-Tikbali 6
Spoilt votes 4
Non-voters 1
Total 158
In the second round of voting between the top two, Ageela Issa Gwaider won by a margin of three votes, with 74 votes over second placed Abubakr Bahira who had 77 votes.
2nd round of House of Representatives leadership vote - run off between the top two
1 Abubakr Bahira 74
2 Ageela Issa Gwaider 77
Spoilt votes 7
Total voters 158
The new head of the House of Representatives then adjourned the session until 10 am for the voting to continue for the posts of the First and Second Deputy heads of the House of Representatives.

It will be recalled that there are supposed to be 200 members of the House of Representatives, but due to boycotts, violence on election day and disbarment by the Political Isolation Law, only 188 members were elected or able to take up their seats.

Moreover, due to the Islamists boycotting the House of Representatives handover process in Tobruk as well as non-Islamists unable or unwilling to participate in the Tobruk handover, 30 members did not participate in the opening session or the vote for the leadership.

This means that in effect the real working number of the members of the House of Representatives is currently 158 - as was reported live on TV today.

Set as preferred source