By Sami Zaptia.
Tripoli, 19 August 2014:
On Monday the HoR questioned the Deputy . . .[restrict]Central Bank of Libya (CBL) Governor and the Deputy Finance Minister on the state of the country’s finances.
In today’s sessions, topics discussed included displaced civilians due to the warring militias, the ceasefire of fighting by militias in Tripoli called for by the HoR , the Caretaker government and the issue of the Chief of Staff.
The Caretaker government
Representatives report that there are two main views in the HoR with regards to the status of the Caretaker government. There is a group of Representatives who are interested in keeping Abdullah Thinni as Prime Minister, but in chrge of a thinned down “crises government” of no more than 10 ministers.
However, another group of Representatives are interested in choosing a totally new Prime Minister of either a reduced government from the current government or of a brand new government.
One contender for a new Prime Minister being mentioned is HoR member for Tripoli Centre, Ali Tekbali. If this alternative is successful, Representative Tekbali would of course have to resign his seat as a HoR member as current laws preclude a person from holding both a position in the legislature and the executive.
It will be recalled that former Prime Minister Ali Zeidan had also been a member of the legislature (GNC) before resigning to take up his position as Prime Minister in 2012.
Chief of Staff
The position of the current Chief of Staff was also discussed today, with some Representatives suggesting that Obaidi should be asked to resign and appointing his Deputy to takeover temporarily until a permanent replacement is appointed.
On the other hand, there was a group of Representatives who preferred to set up a military council made up of all of Libya’s top military officers, and this military council would choose the new Chief of Staff
No pay or allowances for HoR
On another note, Representative for Hay Al-Andulous, Musab Al-Abed, said that Representatives are refusing to award themselves any pay or allowances at this time, until the country exits the crises it is currently going through.
The “floating hotel”
Representative Al-Abed also added that members have also decided to refuse to live on the so called “floating hotel” cruise liner that has been hired for them to live on.
Al-Abed was also keen to distance the HoR from the responsibility for hiring the floating hotel, saying that it was the government that had executed the idea. [/restrict]
