By Libya Herald staff.
Tripoli, 11 November 2014:
A group of 94 members of the General National Congress (GNC) is reportedly refusing to play . . .[restrict]any part in reconvening of the GNC.
Former GNC First Deputy President Ezzeddin Al-Awami, speaking for the loose and unofficial grouping of 94 members who often voted in a bloc, told a local news agency that the group would soon release a statement. It would, Awami said, set out the members’ rejection of any attempt to revive the GNC.
Furthermore, said Awami, the 94 stand solidly behind the elected House of Representatives (HoR). They reject every new decision passed by the expired GNC, including the appointment of Omar Al-Hassi as Prime Minister. Awami said that the statement will affirm that they believe such decisions have led to the continuing chaos and violence in the country.
Awami said he and the others in the bloc wished to send a message to the international community that the GNC’s term has legally expired and that the HoR is the sole elected governing body in the country. The President of the GNC should have surrendered his duties after the convening of the HoR.
Awami opened the convening of the HoR in August, congratulating the lawmakers for the “confidence accorded them by the Libyan people”. He was one of a handful of GNC members to attend the opening. When the GNC had stalled on the transition of power, Awami was one of the voices calling for the handover to be done quickly.
As recently as late last month, Awami was one of 52 leading Libyan figures to urge boycotting HoR members to join their colleagues in the sitting HoR. They sent a written appeal addressed to all members of the House, as well as to the UN Special Representative Bernardino Leon, calling on members of the House of Representatives who have been boycotting its sessions in Tobruk to join their colleagues, ensure an end to the current conflict which they fear could end in civil war and appoint a government of national unity.
In the written appeal they said that the HoR was “the only legitimate body” and that the boycotters should join in, proving its legitimacy was based on inclusiveness. [/restrict]
