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By Libya Herald reporter.
Malta, 30 . . .[restrict]August 2015:
There has been much speculation on Libyan social media with claims and counter claims regarding the reasons for the removal of Tripoli Municipality Center’s Mayor, Mahdi Al Harati.
There has also been claims that Al-Harati’s removal and the vote to replace him were irregular.
However, a highly placed source at the heart of the whole process to replace Al-Harati has confirmed to Libya Herald, on a strict basis of anonymity, that the proper processes were followed. He also confirmed that a legal basis for removing Al-Harati exists, in response to Al-Harati’s followers who claimed that only voters could remove the former publicly elected Mayor.
Al-Harati meanwhile felt that the procedures were not properly followed and took his appeal to the High Court.
The source confirmed that the reason for the removal of Al-Harati by his fellow Municipality councillors was his lengthy periods of absence from the job – while the city was experiencing a series of crises such as the uncollected garbage on roadsides.
The source was fearful that Al-Harati will not accept the decision by the Ministry of Local Government to hold new elections and that he will not handover office cleanly.
With regards to claims that some Councillors were not informed of the new election time or date, or that they did not receive legal notification or that they were prevented from voting, the source denied this claim.
The source also confirmed that Al-Harati was still in control of the official Municipality Facebook page. He also confirmed that Al-Harati was still a member of the Municipality’s Council and was able to continue to attend and work as a Councillor – but he is no longer leader of the Municipality. [/restrict]
