By Sami Zaptia.
London, 26 April 2017:
A group of House of Representatives members has announced the suspension of their membership until a vote on the new Central Bank of Libya Governor takes place. There are varying numbers being quoted on social and online media outlets as to exactly how many have suspended their membership, but in a video statement posted on the HoR’s Media Department website 31 members could be seen. They claim many others joined the boycott later.
In the video statement, the disgruntled members condemned the acting chairman of the session, the Second Deputy President, for not following procedure and internal regulations. They claim that a successful vote had already been taken deciding that a new Governor was to be voted on. They condemn him for opening the session up to debates on the matter again despite a vote of 48 out of 74 to the contrary.
They also condemned members who in their view improperly prevented a vote from taking place. They also pointed out that the process of choosing a new Governor was carried out based on meritocracy and away from regionalism.
HoR member and Deputy Rapporteur Sabah Juma confirmed that a vote will go ahead next week. It will be noted that HoR President Aghila Saleh was not present at the session, abroad on official duty.
On another note, in Tripoli, State Council (SC) president Abdulrahman Sewehli has declared that a new CBL Governor can only be selected with the joint approval of the SC, as per the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA). The Tripoli CBL Governor Saddek Elkaber has also confirmed that he would only relinquish his post if the process was carried out within the LPA framework.
