By Moutaz Ali.
Tripoli, 13 January 2017:
Deputy Presidency Council (PC) head Ahmed Maetig has said that the Government of National Accord (GNA) is able to ensure the security and safety of government ministry buildings in Tripoli.
The statement, made as a press conference this evening at the prime minister’s office, follows Thursday’s announcement by the former Libya Dawn regime head, Khalifa Ghwell, that his “government” had taken over three ministries in the capital.
Ghwell’s forces had not really taken over the ministries, said Maetig. The militias had simply gone in and made statements.
“The entry of Ghwell to these locations for a short while and making press conferences from inside certainly doesn’t mean he fully controls them,” he said.
The ministries which Ghwell’s forces broke into were those of defence, labour and martyrs.
Ghwell announced his takeover from inside the headquarters of the defence ministry, located in the city’s Salaheddin district.
Maetig’s refutation was largely confirmed today the local government minister Bidad Gansu. Speaking today in Tunis, he said that a colleague at the labour ministry had told him that there were hardlu any staff on the premises when Ghwell’s men entered it and that they were using the situation to try and give the impression that they were now running it.
At today’s press conference in Tripoli, Maetig also expressed confidence that the 2017 budget (or “temporary financial arrangements” as it is being diplomatically called) would be put into effect, thanks to the increase in oil exports. They are now reported to be up to 750,000 barrels a day.
“This will boost the national economy and help us succeed in implementing our proposed LD 37-billion budget,” he said.
Maetig also called on Libyans displaced abroad to return home unless they had been involved in crimes. He further insisted that the GNA was determined to achieve national reconciliation among all Libyans.
