By Libya Herald reporters.
Misrata/Tunis, 26 March 2017:
Local municipal staff in Misrata have rejected demands that they cease taking orders from the city’s mayor and councillors and report instead to a new steering committee being set up by hardliners intent of overthrowing the elected council.
In a statement, all the municipal departments said they would continue to work with the elected mayor, Mohamed Eshtewi.
The move is a blow to those who want to sack the council. At a public meeting in the city’s Martyrs’ Hall on Tuesday convened by council opponents led by Misrata military council head Ibrahim Ben Rajeb, it was announced that the municipal council had been dismissed and a steering committee was being set up to take over until elections for a new council could take place. Council staff and organisations working with the council were ordered to cease dealings with Mayor Eshtewi and the councillors.
Yesterday’s declaration by council staff would appear to throw the ball back in the anti-council court. However, today, in a bid to resolve the divisions in the city, an association of local young political activists proposed the creation of an independent committee to negotiate a solution between both sides.
